Asteroid defense: any feasible ideas or we are just doomed theoretically ?

[steve2470]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026662521

That thread made me think about this. Note I said theoretically. I'm not losing any sleep over this.

[trotsky]

1. It's like cancer: early detection is key.

If we had 1000 years notice, we could probably divert one even with today's technology. Just a long, slow, steady push to veer it slightly off course would work fine.

100 years? Maybe if we quickly dumped a bunch of money into a research project to generate incredible thrust, we'd stand a decent chance.

10 or less? Everybody bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.

[steve2470]

2. ignorant question here

High-powered lasers ? Or is that just science fiction stuff ?

[trotsky]

6. Possibly - high powered lasers could vaporize a side of it, and propel it in the other direction.

Or just a rocket engine with a large fuel supply. Push for a few months, years, you'll get it diverted enough. Just a little adjustment early enough and you make a huge difference.

[Maedhros]

3. All I could think to do would be to hit an incoming asteroid with a nuclear warhead

while it was sufficiently far away such that the explosion would alter the asteroid's trajectory just enough to miss us.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Very fix-able

If it's far enough away, only a relatively small nudge is needed to change it out our path. Bomb, crash a spacecraft, or even the gravitational pull from a spacecraft parked near it.

And if it's big enough to cause havoc, we'll likely see it when it's far enough away.

[csziggy]

7. A NASA program suggested paint one side black, the other white

I wasn't paying attention - taking a break at a seminar in Orlando where the resort had the NASA channel on as default - so I didn't catch the complete discussion. But the part I listened to suggested that if we have enough warning, just painting parts of an asteroid could deflect its orbit enough to miss the Earth. Solar wind, I guess would be the motivating factor.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. Like this?

[csziggy]

9. Yes - exactly! n/t

[immoderate]

11. Just getting close enough to paint it, will probably alter its course.

--imm

[csziggy]

12. True - I've read that the course can be altered by traveling close

I guess that would be micro-gravity?

[immoderate]

15. Not sure what you would call that.

It's regular gravity. But the masses are small.

--imm

[krispos42]

5. the biggest nuclear warhead we can build...

...donated in a crater of the asteroid.

The crater would focus the blast, creating a brief but very strong push in one direction.

If you wait until the crater is in the right orientation, you could speed up or slow down the asteroid slightly, resulting in a near-miss months or years down the line. Same thing with a sideways shove.

Multiple donations could be made to occur. The blast would be on the surface so it's unlikely to break the rock up, but a few nudges plus time and distance could turn a hit into a miss.

[immoderate]

10. If we can encounter it when it's 100 million miles away (roughly 1 AU, just past Mars)

and apply some force that moves it 1 foot per mile traveled, (like a mass traveling alongside) then its course will be diverted by 19,000 miles. Earth is only 8,000 miles in diameter.

No big deal.

--imm

[bananas]

13. The B612 Foundation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B612_Foundation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B612_Foundation#Deflection_methods

[bananas]

14. NASA NEO Program

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

[bananas]

16. 2003 letter to congress

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=9866

[bananas]

17. US space policy and planetary defense

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2612/1
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2612/2