From: benthejrporter
Date: 2014-08-06 21:11:32
Many organizations now watch the skies for asteroids, like Operation Spaceguard, named after a fictional group in an Arthur C Clarke novel. All the “dinosaur killers” in the Earth’s vicinity are known and none will threaten the Earth for at least centuries to come. However there are smaller objects out there with the power to exceed most nuclear bombs that could wipe out a city. What would we do if we saw a great big whopper without name on it? Just get our affairs in order and wait? No. Orbital mechanics is very regular and predictable thanks to Kepler et al. If we find one it’s easy to know very accurately where it will be in the near future. Unlike earthquakes we can do something to keep us safe from asteroids. Good news is that it is within current human technology (public) to remove the threat. All we need to do is deflect them onto a new trajectory that misses Earth. There are many simple schemes to do this, also there’s no air resistance in space so all progress cumulative. Nearby explosives might do it, Newton ‘s Third Law etc You could ram it. Put a rocket engine on its surface. Laser beams might be enough to nudge it, a focused solar ray. Solar sail. Painting one side of it to alter the selectivity. Best one is gravitational tug. Place large spacecraft near the object and small gravity well moves it slightly. Sooner we detect it, the easier the task.
