h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've heard it said frequently that even if we could adjust missiles for space it would be impossible to stop an asteroid with a nuke as it simply makes it a bunch of smaller rocks. Is it possible to make an asteoroid safe by simply hitting each rock with a number of nuclear bombs until they are small enough that they simply burn up in the atmosphere?

This article is a couple of years old, and discusses asteroid deflection.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2817276&page=1

It seems to me that, if an asteroid were heading for Earth, and if that asteroid were successfully exploded in space, then the resulting smaller rocks would be heading in all directions, not necessarily in Earth's direction only.

also get hold of a copy of the book 'Death From The Skies' by Phil Plait (an astronomer) where he describes all the main ways the universe is out to get us and then goes through why they aren't that much of a worry and how we can counter them (if at all) - asteroid impact is one of them.

nbb,

there are several problems here, sorry.

1 - hitting the thingy. Imagine hitting a fast tennis ball with a rifle, from a fast car, at a distance of several kilometers. This would be easy, as speeds and distances in the asteroid problem are higher by 10^ horrible.

2 - the blasting itself. You blast rock by drilling holes for the exploives, then fill and plug them, thus allowing the pressure to do its work. The destruction only goes as deep as the holes; have a look at the workface in a quarry (only one you´re allowed to enter, please): it´s covered in small dimples - tho bottoms of the blastholes.

3 - there are a lot of problems I´ve never heard or thought of.

hmmm, could take a while to get right? Would be a good way of depleting everyones nuclear stockpile, far more interesting than just destroying them

Right...

Very pithy problem this is.

Pit's arguement is sound. An asteroid on collision track would be travelling at about 35,000 KmH. Size? maybe 500 metres across. We would not see it until it was too late. The only ones we could catch would be a number of Kilometres across. Then the chances of success would be minimal; and even then, the bits would be radioactive if attacked by H-Bombs.

It is not only asteroids we have to worry about in extraterrestrial debris. There are comets, or shards of comets. In 1908, a shard of a comet detonated over the Siberian forest, destroying 2500 square kilometres. And that one has been estimated at 50 metres accross.

A further example; many scientists believe that an asteroid a couple of hundred kilometres accross destroyed the dinosaurs.

God help humanity if another is picked up...........



GT

if we discover it soon enough

and are able to launch a mission to it we could change its orbit

its all math

mass and speed and orbit

change one in the correct way and we may be able to change its orbit, thaty is all we would need to do

Hi Taff!

Ever seen a picture of 'Meteor Crater' in Arizona?

The crater is 1.2 Kilometres across, 0.18 kilometres deep, and the rim rises 0.06 kilometres above the land around it....

The weight of the meteor that caused it has been estimated at 250,000 Tonnes, and 0.028 metres 1n diameter........

We would have zero chance of spotting one that size.....

A city destroyer!!!

As the saying goes...."Put your head between your knees, and kiss your ar*e goodbye!!"




GT

, you two maniacs! GT, you want to see a biigish meteor crater, look at the gulf of Mexico - that was 55 million years ago - date rings a bell?

Hi Pit.

Yes, Gulf of Mexico is big.

But the dinosaur destroyer occurred off the Yucatan Peninsula, and is referred to in scientific circles as the 'Chixilit Incident' (Think spelling is ok. Would have to shut down and search net to check)

North America and South America are actually separate entities, and are actually moving (Continental drift) at different speeds.

Hope that clears the air!!!



GT

OK - I read up on gography if you get your metrics up to scratch. The Arizona meteor was somewhat bigger than 1" I bet.

For metres read Kilometres!!!!!!


Ooopps!



GT

OK - but we still agree that voltage multiplied by current is measured in ouch, right?

Incorrect!!!

It is measured by who the left that ing thing turned ing on?????


lol



GT

You think I´m THAT stupid? It was off, but it wasn´t earthed. I was.

Who forgot the 'Debollicking Stick' then???



GT

...to get back to the original thread - blasting a biggie won´t help either.

(uisge)..........

, not Malt...




GT

Back on track..........

Nope! We need an advance in science to be sure.If we say we get hit on average once every 10,000 years or so, we are overdue..........

Sodom and Gomorrah???????

A strike if ever I saw one!!!!




GT