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Earth’s gravity may lure deadly asteroid
The Times (UK) ^ | April 18, 2005 | By Nigel Hawkes

Posted on 04/18/2005 7:21:31 AM PDT by aculeus

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To: Steely Tom
It would not get captured. They are talking about the pass near are grav field would nudge it's orbit just a bit. Since we can't predict WHERE it's new orbit will take it there is a chance it will intersect the earth the next time around. With something that irregular we don't really know it's mass well enough to calculate what the new orbit will look like. Putting a transponder on it would let us calculate it's current orbit more accurately and let us figure it's new orbit out much faster.
41 posted on 04/18/2005 7:53:05 AM PDT by TalonDJ
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To: aculeus

What difference does it make? We are all suppose to have died from the Avian Flu before then.


42 posted on 04/18/2005 7:53:22 AM PDT by foolscap
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To: aculeus
OK, maybe I don't know enough science to figure this one out, but surely somebody here does: If we can make the effort to "tag" it, how much harder would it be to put something on it that would blow it to bits, when it goes away from Earth? Yes, the pieces would still have the same orbital pattern, more or less, but when they would hit the Earth, they might be small enough to burn up harmlessly.

If I've got a bad idea, perhaps someone knowledgeable could explain why.

43 posted on 04/18/2005 7:53:30 AM PDT by hunter112 (Total victory, both in the USA and the Middle East!)
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To: boofus

When gravity is outlawed, only.................


44 posted on 04/18/2005 7:53:36 AM PDT by Red Badger (Entrepreneurs find a need and fill it. Politicians create a need and fill it........)
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To: aculeus

"It might put 2004 MN4 on course for a collision in 2034..."

I'll be 88. Now I have something to look forward too.


45 posted on 04/18/2005 7:53:49 AM PDT by DugwayDuke
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To: TattooedUSAFConservative

> why are they going to tag it with a radio transmitter and not just blow the thing apart, thereby nullifying any risk at all?

Because we're not real clear even yet on how to blow apart a 1000-foot asteroid of unknown composition. And without knowing exactly what it's trajectory is, blowing into pieces might well take a 1000-foot asteroid that was going to miss Earth and turn it into several 400-foot asteroids that WILL hit Earth.


46 posted on 04/18/2005 7:53:58 AM PDT by orionblamblam ("You're the poster boy for what ID would turn out if it were taught in our schools." VadeRetro)
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To: bondserv

Thanks for the ping!


47 posted on 04/18/2005 7:54:22 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: orionblamblam
> Why hasn't Jupiter gobbled this one up yet? Because the asteroids orbit goes nowhere near Jupiter.

So Jupiter hasn't been the solar system vacuum for billions of years?

Those comets and asteroids have been awfully plentiful on our short life spans. Shumaker-Levy would have been life ending if it were to have hit earth. In our very lifetimes.

48 posted on 04/18/2005 7:55:42 AM PDT by bondserv (Alignment is critical! †)
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To: agere_contra
But by 2029, your wristwatch will be able to do those calcs.

Yeah, just in time... to countdown to the impact!
49 posted on 04/18/2005 7:55:43 AM PDT by SpinnerWebb (Would you like an apple pie with that?)
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To: All
If you're interested in the effects of an impact like this, try this "Impact Calculator".

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

50 posted on 04/18/2005 7:55:59 AM PDT by The_Victor (Doh!... stupid tagline)
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To: aculeus

Time to fire up the old Space Ark...

51 posted on 04/18/2005 7:57:11 AM PDT by Jonah Hex (Go. Hunt. Kill Skuls.)
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To: aculeus

close enough to be seen with the naked eye
=======

Well, I suppose that will be permissible...

presuming it's not Janet Jackson's naked eye !!! ;-))


52 posted on 04/18/2005 7:57:19 AM PDT by GeekDejure ( LOL = Liberals Obey Lucifer !!! -- Impeach Greer !!!.)
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To: orionblamblam
Of course, if there's a "President Hillary" between now and then

We could start a thread to consider post Hilary-Dystopias. Or just read up on Stalin's Russia, of course :0)

53 posted on 04/18/2005 7:58:52 AM PDT by agere_contra
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To: hunter112

> If we can make the effort to "tag" it, how much harder would it be to put something on it that would blow it to bits, when it goes away from Earth?

A lot. A tagging mission could be carried out similar to the NEAR mission... call it one Delta II launch, well under $100 million, launch it in less than 5 years. But a mission to deflect the asteroid away from an impact would require that very same mission to be launched anyway, with numerous additional missions to follow.

Deflecting the asteroid would be substantially easier than blowing it up enough to no longer pose any sort of risk... if you've got decades to do it. But either way would require a hell of a lot more launch capability than a single Delta II. Speaking as a "rocket scientist," I'd LOVE to see such a mission put together; it'd be great to build up the infrastructure. But it would nevertheless be a substantially longer-term and more costly mission than a simple transponder.


54 posted on 04/18/2005 7:59:38 AM PDT by orionblamblam ("You're the poster boy for what ID would turn out if it were taught in our schools." VadeRetro)
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To: orionblamblam
Wristwatch? No, those will no longer exist. The brain-chip will simply display a heads-up display directly onto your retina (giving you the time in all time zones, along with your exact location), do your taxes, calculate orbital trajectories two millenia out, and project the fourteen most-likely-successful pick-up lines to the four-breasted genetically modified hottie in the corner.

But it still won't be able to figure out timezones in Indiana.

55 posted on 04/18/2005 7:59:50 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Blackwell for Governor 2006: hated by the 'Rats, feared by the RINOs.)
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To: George Smiley

The solution is much more simple, just have congress outlaw asteroids. If that doesn't work, perhaps the ACLU could sue the the asteroid on grounds of fear, distress and mental anguish on behalf of the childrennnnnnnnnn


56 posted on 04/18/2005 8:01:42 AM PDT by mund1011
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Comment #57 Removed by Moderator

To: MikeinIraq
Since I am 83 years old, I will already have been dead in 2029. However, at present, I would still be concerned for all.

May be something to "prediction" about our next two popes will be the last ones---that's only 24 years from now---end of world????
58 posted on 04/18/2005 8:02:31 AM PDT by GOPologist
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To: aculeus

Everybody, say it with me:

"We're all gonna DIE!!1!!1!!one!!"


59 posted on 04/18/2005 8:03:14 AM PDT by 4mycountry ("No, Samus, prioritize! Getting off of an exploding ship is more important than fighting a dragon!")
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To: boofus

Gravity sucks!


60 posted on 04/18/2005 8:03:15 AM PDT by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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