Posted on 10/16/2021 5:41:46 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Nuking an incoming asteroid as a last-ditch effort to save the planet has long captivated the imaginations of real-life experts and filmmakers alike. But many astronomers have maintained that it would never work, saying we should come up with other ideas instead.
But new research may show that those naysayers are wrong, Gizmodo reports, because computer simulations indicate that a last-minute nuclear strike actually has a good chance at saving the planet after all. That’s good news, as most other viable strategies require years, or perhaps even decades, of planning.
“Simply stated, for a 100-meter object that’s projected to hit Earth, if we employ a robust nuclear disruption technique by at least one month before impact, we can prevent 99 percent or more of the impacting mass from hitting the Earth,” Johns Hopkins University physicist Patrick King, who completed the study as his PhD thesis at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory...
(Excerpt) Read more at futurism.com ...
Seems more like a high school project than a PhD study.
Hit an object that small travelling very fast a MONTH out? Does he have Han Solo and Chewie on speed dial?
Probably result in “Lucifer’s Hammer” (Nivern/Pournelle)
How about John Koenig or Victor Bergman?
“Niven” that is.
A great time to ax: “What could possibly go wrong?”
Well that's the rub. It's not the small size that is the issue. It's the traveling very fast way way out that is the issue, e.g. the knowing it's there and getting there part.
I know. That’s the interesting thing.
Obviously it is more involved than presented here.
Don’t have to hit it, just get close enough to affect it’s path. Might take multiple nukes.
The Nuke could disrupt the space time continuum ,LOL
‘Bout damned time. Totally feasible. The only real option we have at present. The idea has been strangled for one reason only - No leftist hive brain robot is going to admit that the planet’s Cold War ICBM arsenal could save humanity’s bacon. Blowing up an asteroid will leave smaller chunks to burn up in the atmosphere. Even if the smaller bits hit the ground, far less global damage than a big one with extinction capabilities. This is such a no brainer.
Additionally, the issue has the ability to erase the global warming hoax as a focus for planetary survival. Another reason the idea has been thrown down the well by the climate armageddonites.
You deploy a line of nukes to nudge it away, not to blow it up. In space a small nudge a few weeks away can be enough for it to avoid Earth all together.
Best Asteroid movie - stars Bruce Willis
Best retired CIA Agent movie - stars Bruce Willis
Best graphic novel movie - stars Bruce Willis
Best Luc Besson movie - stars Bruce Willis
Best time travelling disease plot movie - stars Bruce Willis
and...
Best Christmas movie - stars Bruce Willis
Too bad he isn’t John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart.
OK OK, we get the point! Without Bruce Willis we’ve got no shot. LOL
But Bruce Willis is getting a bit old.
Not having a plan to deflect a planet killing asteroid is utter stupidity.
If there is ever a issue the world should work together on, this is it.
Low probability of it happening, but we have the technology now to do it.
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