Asteroids

[SteveSxx]

OK - So if we can detect Asteroids before they hit the planet - but can we destroy them ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6034285.st m

[reportmonkey]

I would think that given the opportunity some governments who have the power to do so might contemplate changing their course in order to control where they hit. What an interesting idea for a novel/film...sigh if only i was a writer

[SteveSxx]

a 1/2 ton of rock on the Whitehouse - sounds good to me !!

[reportmonkey]

Not to me...

I suppose you think North Korea is a lovely holiday destination. See the news article on the BBC website about holidays in North Korea.

[kwicky]

I believe the current prescription for asteriods aimed at the Earth is to deflect them. Talks of exploding nuclear bombs on them seems to be too hazardous.

[NH]

Searching for asteroids less than 1km across, hey? Surely there's a way of using some form of radio or laser equipment for an asteroid radar? Seems more effective than just looking with a big camera.

[admarlow]

the problem is that they can come from angles that are blocked out by other things like the moon and the sun
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[SteveSxx]

What sort of speed would they approach earth at ?

[spudqueen]

There's already a place in Wales that looks for asteroids, that's all it does.

http://www.spaceguarduk.com/

[CT]

Destroy them? Possibly. Detect them in time and you can paint them. It's known as the Yarkovsky effect. The change in radiation absorbed/reflected, subtlely alters the the asteroids trajectory.

[johnizere]

I had asteroids once, some cream suppositories did the trick...wonder if they work in space though?

[jno]

they reckon the asteroid that hit Mexico millennia ago was about 6 miles across. The crater it left is about 200 miles across. These things hit very hard. Fortunately, we have Bruce Willis

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120591/