Meteor in Russia...

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#3
You do wonder what we are waiting for to build a system to detonate these things up in space before they come down to smash us.

This thing was only 100 yards across, the asteroid which ended the dinosaurs' reign was only seven miles across. That asteroid wouldn't last long under a single nuclear warhead, let alone a barrage of them.

I don't think it is necessarily political to discuss the possibility and desirability of building such a system. Anyone on board with this?
 
#7
I don't think nuclear blasts are necessary. If you can detect them early enough, land a rocket on it and start pushing it off course for some hours or days. Even a relatively small push, should nudge it a few degrees out of a collision course, but you need to do it as early as possible. After all, earth is pretty small, easy to miss 😉

jan
 
#9
As for me, shocking in this whole matter, there is no complete consensus on global warming is caused by mankind only, and how long will it evolve?
A stone bullet exactly points could end this debate.
We have all means to prevent this cause.
And then we have a further opportunity to discuss this.
Let me add, as I read, the earth orbits near the inside border of habitability zone.
Hence there is only a small leap of Venus-like Hell.
So it's a real intimidation.
 
#10
That we can understand and duplicate "SOME OF THE NATURE´S BEHAVIOR", doesn´t mean that we can control, modify or even avoid what Mother Natures dictate. We are waaaaay to infimum.

At least that´s what I think.
 
#11
Of course this is so.
I could list a few things.
But what is it exactly we left the line that we were powerless due to an asteroid threat.
Instead, we prefer to threaten each other.
For me this is the most scary.

Damn, this is now forbidden policy.
 
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#13
jan.didden said:
I don't think nuclear blasts are necessary. If you can detect them early enough, land a rocket on it and start pushing it off course for some hours or days. Even a relatively small push, should nudge it a few degrees out of a collision course, but you need to do it as early as possible. After all, earth is pretty small, easy to miss 😉
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The same tech can, and will be used, to nudge resource rich asteroids into places where it is easy to mine them.

The one that hit the other day thou, was tiny. Hits like this do raise awareness and the programs already in place will likely find funding easier to source.

dave
 
#19
Cal Weldon said:
Asteroids yes, Meteors no.
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Well according to the American Heritage Science Dictionary,
Meteoroids range in size from a speck of dust to a chunk about 100 meters in diameter, though most are smaller than a pebble.
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meteor - definition of meteor by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.


An asteroid, however, according to the same folks,
Any of numerous small celestial bodies that revolve around the sun, with orbits lying chiefly between Mars and Jupiter and characteristic diameters between a few and several hundred kilometers. Also called minor planet, planetoid.
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So a meteroid tops out at 100 meters across and apparently is too small to see and stop or deflect. However, an asteroid is at least 4,000 meters across, (several being defined as more than two or three) and can be stopped or deflected, if we ever get around to building a system to do so.

Makes you wonder wonder what we call something coming at us between 100 meters and 4,000 meters across, and if we can stop or locate that before it smacks us. I would think something 1,000 meters across could really do some worldwide damage.
 
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#20
Along with size, it seems that a major difference is the objects' orbits. A meteor is a meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere. Looking at the definition of meteoroid from the same source as above:
A small, rocky or metallic body revolving in interplanetary space around the Sun. A meteoroid is significantly smaller than an asteroid, ranging from small grains or particles to the size of large boulders. The clustered meteoroids associated with regular annual meteor showers are believed to be very small particles of cometary debris. Meteoroids that survive their passage through the Earth's atmosphere and land as meteorites are somewhat larger, solitary bodies and are encountered in no predictable pattern.
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Emphasis mine.
Such a defense as has been proposed here could never be 100% capable. But to me it isn't too far removed from '80's "Star Wars" technology to be impossible. Whether it is really warranted is questionable. As with earthquakes and tornadoes, nature's power often makes man's efforts miniscule in comparison.
A personal aside... I've been to the crater east of Flagstaff, AZ. It's worth seeing; that impact had to make some racket! There's another crater in the Permian Basin area of West Texas, but it's been mostly filled in by blowing dirt through the ages (or maybe just a couple of Spring seasons).
 
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