It has been mentioned elsewhere on the forum, the fact that we are due for an Asteroid strike. Assuming that we do, at sometime in the near future, do our World leaders have any contihgency plans to put into place to deal with such a threat.
I am presuming that if we have the solution, it is viable, however, IF the Asteroid is so large than it can’t be destroyed prior to it hitting Earth, what would you do, considering that it would be , say in 6 months time?.
Lincoln. 7
By: Lincoln 7 - 25th February 2011 at 14:04
i think there are two more , wasn’t it the last launch of discovery ??
May well have, just lets hope that Challenger is still alive and kicking or the astronauts working on the I.S.S will be bricking it!!:D
Lincoln. 7
😉
By: Lincoln 7 - 25th February 2011 at 14:00
There’s more mileage in attempting to deflect an incoming asteriod that trying to destroy it completely.
If done early enough, you wouldn’t need to apply a huge amount of force so a solar sail – or even a coat of white paint on the sunward side – would be enough to do the trick.
The hard part is to detect the asteroid in the first place, of course.
Now I know what you do for a living, you work for NASA, seriously though, I was waiting for the subject of deflection to come up, and wondered if it would work, surly we have the best brains in the worlld here and other places, and this scenario must have been discussed, you just can’t fold your arms, sit back and wait for it to happen.
G.A. Having watched TV re your suggestion regarding a Solar Sail, can you explain just how that flimsy item could deflect an Asteroid travelling at a very high speed, not being sarcastic, but just how do you think that would be of use?.
Lincoln .7
By: tornado64 - 25th February 2011 at 13:51
april 19th and june 28th 2011 will be last planned shuttle launches
By: tornado64 - 25th February 2011 at 13:48
Another point to ponder whilst on the subject of Willis, havn’t we just launched the space shuttle for the last time, so even that could not be considered now.
Lincoln .7
i think there are two more , wasn’t it the last launch of discovery ??
By: Lincoln 7 - 25th February 2011 at 13:38
How would I know, Linc – how would any of us know? We know we can launch thermonuclear devices into space but in order to eliminate the chance of fragments hitting the earth destruction would have tro be a long way out. An asterorid of the size you seem to be proposing would probably be far too large for us to destroy it anyway. No, you’ll just have to sit back and enjoy the road to Armageddon.;)
Another point to ponder whilst on the subject of Willis, havn’t we just launched the space shuttle for the last time, so even that could not be considered now.
Lincoln .7
By: Lincoln 7 - 25th February 2011 at 13:33
If it happens I don’t think there’s anything we or any government can really do just because of the sheer amount of energy we’re talking about with meter impacts – and the amount of energy quite literally is astronomical. Most ‘shooting stars’ you see in our atmosphere are no bigger than a grain of sand. To put that into perspective imagine a 60 watt domestic light bulb maybe 80 miles away – you’re not going to stand a chance of seeing it no matter how dark it is, and yet something many thousand times smaller has enough energy to be very clearly visible in the night sky. Also the amount of damage that occurs when what would widely be considered quite a small object hits is astounding. There’s a famous crater in the desert in Arizona that’s around 1200 meters wide and 170 metres deep, so you could be forgiven for assuming that an object roughly 1200 metres wide hit the earth – that wasn’t the case. The meteor that created that impact crater is estimated to only be around 40-50 metres in diameter! Even a meteor 5 metres in diameter would create insane amounts of damage.
So yeah, personally I think this is a case where we have to accept nature has the upper hand and should it decide to fire something our way we have to just see what happens and how we deal with it. If it can be blasted apart by laser beams before it hits us then great, if not then, well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I have stood on the side of that crater, it’s surprising what damage such a small object can do.
There are two men who go to the Death Valley, who make a living, finding and selling small meteorites!!.Had quite an interesting conversation with them, also was given a small sample they had found.
Lincoln .7
By: tornado64 - 25th February 2011 at 13:20
or even a coat of white paint on the sunward side – would be enough to do the trick.
.
how fast are you with a paint roller ????
By: Grey Area - 25th February 2011 at 13:16
There’s more mileage in attempting to deflect an incoming asteriod that trying to destroy it completely.
If done early enough, you wouldn’t need to apply a huge amount of force so a solar sail – or even a coat of white paint on the sunward side – would be enough to do the trick.
The hard part is to detect the asteroid in the first place, of course.
By: tornado64 - 25th February 2011 at 13:16
to be fair it’s way out of our league !! we struggled to send planes to libiya !!
By: PMN - 25th February 2011 at 13:15
Preparation H feels good – on the whole.
Sorry, couldn’t resist! 😀
By: tornado64 - 25th February 2011 at 13:14
a huge tube of preperation H … what ??? oh he said asteroids !!:diablo:
By: Sky High - 25th February 2011 at 13:14
How would I know, Linc – how would any of us know? We know we can launch thermonuclear devices into space but in order to eliminate the chance of fragments hitting the earth destruction would have tro be a long way out. An asterorid of the size you seem to be proposing would probably be far too large for us to destroy it anyway. No, you’ll just have to sit back and enjoy the road to Armageddon.;)
By: PMN - 25th February 2011 at 13:13
If it happens I don’t think there’s anything we or any government can really do just because of the sheer amount of energy we’re talking about with meter impacts – and the amount of energy quite literally is astronomical. Most ‘shooting stars’ you see in our atmosphere are no bigger than a grain of sand. To put that into perspective imagine a 60 watt domestic light bulb maybe 80 miles away – you’re not going to stand a chance of seeing it no matter how dark it is, and yet something many thousand times smaller has enough energy to be very clearly visible in the night sky. Also the amount of damage that occurs when what would widely be considered quite a small object hits is astounding. There’s a famous crater in the desert in Arizona that’s around 1200 meters wide and 170 metres deep, so you could be forgiven for assuming that an object roughly 1200 metres wide hit the earth – that wasn’t the case. The meteor that created that impact crater is estimated to only be around 40-50 metres in diameter! Even a meteor 5 metres in diameter would create insane amounts of damage.
So yeah, personally I think this is a case where we have to accept nature has the upper hand and should it decide to fire something our way we have to just see what happens and how we deal with it. If it can be blasted apart by laser beams before it hits us then great, if not then, well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
By: Lincoln 7 - 25th February 2011 at 13:03
S.H. Assuming Bruce Willis, (Good film, in some aspects), were not available, Have any Governments in the world, the means to destroy an Asteroid that was small enough to destroy,and not so large that there was no possibility of it being able to be eliminated, terinated etc.
Have we the means?. but are not told?, as many coverups are a trend with all Governments.
Lincoln .7
By: Sky High - 25th February 2011 at 12:32
Wherever it it hit the effect of every part of the globe would be catastrophic, just as large extra terrestial have done previously, destroying our way of life for millenia, so there would not be much point in doing anything…….unless you are Bruce Willis.;)
By: Dr Strangelove - 25th February 2011 at 12:24
Air rifles at the ready lads….we’ll deflect the blighter.
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February 25, 2011 at 12:21 pm