Redirecting an asteroid towards a country, that was big enough to wipe it out without ending life on the planet would be some weapon.
But since I know nothing of science I ALREADY know there’s 50 problems with that scenario :)
“Planetary protection supporters have touted the ability of ARM to demonstrate a method of altering an incoming planetoid’s path by means of a “gravity tractor” technique – using the mass of the spacecraft and a sizable boulder collected from the asteroid to create a gravitational field sufficient to ‘tug’ the asteroid. Simulations suggest that it is possible to deflect an incoming body without the need to use a more direct, and potentially less effective, means of diversion – such as a nuclear detonation or an impactor.”
If you think nuclear weapons are destructive, wait until we can deflect an asteroid or two to Earth! Craters the size of counties!
We are $20 TRILLION in debt. Close NASA!!
Obama’s budget proposal actually does cut the NASA budget from the 2016 authorization, while the overall federal budget actually increases to over $4.1 trillion. NASA’s budget proposal is about $19 billion. The proposed outlays for three welfare programs, WIC, SNAP, and CNP, are $111.4 billion. Looks like we’d be better off going after the big-ticket wasteful spending (welfare) than we would a small-potatoes operation like NASA.