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NASA, who has until now been charged with finding and cataloging NEOs (AKA Near-Earth Objects) larger than 2,300 feet in diameter — of which there are about 127 — has had their mission changed. Congress recently decided that NASA’s search was not sufficient, and should be expanded to include smaller objects, down to about 230 feet wide. It’s estimated there are more than 20,000 of these potentially destructive and uncomfortably close asteroids flying around our solar system, and once NASA has the new array of telescopes online that will allow them to track these bodies, we’ll probably find that a few of those 20,000 are indeed on extremely worrisome trajectories. “This has gone from being an esoteric statistical argument to talking about real events,” said Dr David Morrison, an astronomer at the Nasa’s Ames Research Center.
So what happens when we discover a deadly asteroid headed straight for us? Now that it’s a possibility no longer relegated to bad late-90s sci-fi adventure movies (Deep Impact, Armageddon), the UN is getting involved. Ideas could include hitting the asteroid with a spacecraft or rocket to deflect its orbit (but wait, wasn’t that what they tried in Armageddon?), or using a “gravity tug” that would simply hover over the asteroid and use gravity as a “towline” to change its path. Either way, expect a lot more gloom and doom from the world’s space administrations in the future.
I’m not worried. I remember what I was taught in school. Duck and Cover.
If it’s good enough for an A-Bomb, it.s good enough for an asteroid.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 2-19-2007 at 3:51 pm
What’s needed is an ion propulsion craft with two opposing engines that can hover near an oncoming asteroid and hold its position while nudging it away. A craft so heavy it needs only one engine (because gravity would push equally toward it) would surely be too expensive to put in place.
posted by PhotoperiodEffect dotcom on 2-20-2007 at 4:49 pm
If we find the asteroid early enough, I’m in favor of a small orbiter designed to cover the surface of the asteroid in titanium dioxide. Not only would the asteroid become much more visible and easier to track, but it should also sustain greater solar pressure outward, which should continually nudge the asteroid into a wider orbit without resorting to active propulsion units subject to failure. Just a thought.
posted by Neil on 2-21-2007 at 12:04 pm
Hhmmm….maybe we should have gone through with operation Star Wars
posted by Ian on 1-30-2008 at 9:26 am
Two words:
Space Tugboat.
posted by Rick O'Shea on 1-30-2008 at 11:10 am
Better two words:
Giant Trampoline
posted by Ben on 1-30-2008 at 2:39 pm
sheldon- ha!
i was rolling—that’s funny.
posted by tammy on 1-30-2008 at 3:41 pm