[emiller]

I posted this article, mostly to get an answer to this question. Something my friends and I have been discussing lately...

Well, here we are, we've done nothing in space for years. The experiments on the last few space shuttle missions pretty much sounded like the astronauts were taking bar bets, our country is in debt -- BUT--- Magically, the U.S., and bunches of other countries have found the time, energy, and bucks to launch mission after mission to asteroids/comets. Huh?

WHAT IS UP??!! Is it becuase of little Apophis? Or has someone in some observatory found something even nastier coming? And they won't tell us, becuase they'd fear we'd panic. And these days, yes, people would panic big time.

ANyway, do you folks agree something weird is going on? I mean, aren't 2 new missions set to lifet off soon? One from the E.U., and I forget the other. japan is there now. This is freaky.

We are so dead... ha

[right right]

Read the Bible to see how the world ends.

[NeonKnight]

Perhaps they may believe we would panic, but stopping a large asteroid from impacting Earth would require tremendous resources, and the governments would need to let the people know where all their money was going.

There may be initial panic, and the stock market would hate it, but I feel the panic would be short lived. I feel that with enough focus and resources, we could come up with a solution in 30 years.

[JamesP81]

It depends on if we mean 390 meters or 390 miles. If its meters, then I suggest a layered defense.

We will need a robotic spacecraft capable of moving to an asteroid. Instead of carrying a robot to study it, it needs to carry the most powerful hydrogen bomb as can be lifted by the vehicle. Send on bomb directly towards it and detonate it short of the rock, with intent to deflect. Also, send several bombs towards the paths the rock may take after being deflected by the first blast, so you'll have one in place to detonate no matter which way it goes. Simultaneously send numerous bombs in a dispersal from the Earth towards the asteroid, and do this in three or more layers. Detonate these in sequence to vaporize the smaller particles as they pass near these lines of bombs. By the time whats left of the asteroid gets close to earth, hopefully what's left of it can be vaporized by earth's atmopshere.

[KarlInOhio]

On the Torino impact hazard scale, this has been assigned a 1.

Normal (Green Zone) 1. A routine discovery in which a pass near the Earth is predicted that poses no unusual level of danger. Current calculations show the chance of collision is extremely unlikely with no cause for public attention or public concern. New telescopic observations very likely will lead to re-assignment to Level 0.

[elbucko]

Something my friends and I have been discussing lately...

You need some new friends and get back on your meds.

[Pessimist]

What an incredible coincience!

The earth has existed for billions of years, and - wouldn't you know it - as soon as we start looking out there for things that might hit us, it turns out we find one!

/sarc

[z3n]

excerpt-1: "Scientists are monitoring the progress of a 390m-wide asteroid " excerpt-2: "However, a NEO larger than 1km (wide) will collide with Earth every few hundred thousand years and a NEO larger than 6km, which could cause mass extinction..." Apophis is 390m wide, or .39km. What is the damage estimation from this? I don't believe it is even close catastrophic for the world (although it would suck to live in the region of impact)

[CFC__VRWC]

Ummm, what exactly are we supposed to do about it anyway, politely ask it to move a little to one side or the other? Any real solution would probably involve some sort of nuclear warhead mounted on a space-bound missile, and even that's probably the stuff of bad sci-fi movies. As if the liberals would allow us to build the nuke or the missile in the first place even if it were possible.

Barring that, I guess we're left with the typical leftist "solution" - create a huge new bureaucracy to "study the problem", impose a global tax to fund it, and then sit around pissing and moaning and hysterically screeching "We're DOOMED!!!!" Oh, and blame it on Bush and Halliburton, of course.

[kentj]

Ok so say it does hit, chances are it will hit water right, let's look at the bright side, the tidal wave to follow will at least take out half of our liberals - see there is a silver lining in every cloud right? (Sarc off)

[KevinDavis]

It won't hit... Asteriods threat is one of the reason why I support human colonization on differet planets.

[kajingawd]

I've been training this butterfly...if ANY asteroid comes within 20,000 miles from earth, my butterfly will flap it's wings at the given coords...11 hours 6 minutes and 39 seconds later, the * air displacement* from the butterfly's wings will have powered up and condensed itself into a funnel tornadoee type cyclone hurricane thing that will steer the asteroid away from our drop of water in space.
that * Funnel tornadoee type cyclone hurricane thing* will be 100,002 times stronger than any * Funnel tornadoee type cyclone hurricane thing* ever produced.


so yeh...bases are covered, let's just hope the asteroid comes across my space and hope that my butterfly can live another 30 odd years

[eyedigress]

Maybe it's making room for the anticipated hyper-space bypass.

[LdSentinal]

Karl Rove is using NASA to make sure the asteroid hits Chappaqua, New York.

[P-40]

BUT--- Magically, the U.S., and bunches of other countries have found the time, energy, and bucks to launch mission after mission to asteroids/comets. Huh?


I'm sure that some of it is just that "life goes on" type of outlook and projects don't shut down just because of the rise and fall of most domestic concerns. If a nation wants to maintain a degree of prestige and the investment interest that comes with it and to continue to produce a stready stream of scientists, engineers, doctors, and whatnot then these projects have to continue. Just think of all that was going on when we first landed on the moon.

That too, the more we learn about our little corner of the world, the better the chances that we will continue to have a place to live.

[linear]

Regarding your question with your friends, my opinion would be that the conspiracy would be too vast to succeed. By the time it could be confirmed, the possibility of such a strike would be vetted at multiple levels, too many too allow such a conspiracy to succeed.

Just my opinion.

I'm also not so certain people would panic. 2036 may as well be infinity, for most TV-addled brains.

[70times7]

Not to worry, at the last minute a pack of warped, grubby, sorry-a$$ed wildcat drillers will go up into space and save us all.

[p. henry]

At last. An economical solution for the global warming problem. Just think of all the solar energy all that dust would reflect out into space.

[tutstar]

ping...

[Eagles Talon IV]

How could the asteroid be on a potential collision course? If they know where it is now then they should be easily able to plot where it will be in 2034.

[willgolfforfood]

Don't wet your pants. The missions you cite were designed, implemented, and launched YEARS before this new rock was found.

Take a deep breath, and back S-L-O-W-L-Y away from the telescope.