Posted on 08/29/2009 4:30:26 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Spacecraft capable of saving the world from a catastrophic asteroid collision has been designed by British space scientists
Heroic missions to stop life on Earth from being wiped out by an asteroid have become a favourite theme for Hollywood disaster films.
Now, a team of British engineers have designed a real-life spacecraft to save the world from destruction.
Their invention, called a "gravity tractor", would be deployed when an orbiting rock is detected on a collision course with Earth.
The spacecraft would intercept the asteroid and position itself to fly alongside it, just 160ft from its surface.
From this position, the 10 tonne craft is able to exert a small gravitational force on the rock, pulling the asteroid towards it.
By gradually modifying its course, over several years, the gravity tractor is able to slowly shift the asteroid's trajectory enough to ensure it misses the Earth.
Details of the planned craft come just weeks after an asteroid or comet was found to have ploughed into Jupiter, which is a giant gas planet, leaving behind a vast impact scar – estimated to be about the same size as the Earth – in its atmosphere.
Scientists believe it is only a matter of time before an asteroid comes close enough to the Earth to be a threat.
Nasa, the US space agency, is so concerned that it has established an expensive monitoring programme to track every object in the sky that might come close to the planet.
It estimates there are more than 100,000 asteroids orbiting near the Earth that are large enough to destroy a city. So far the agency has only been able to identify and track 6,363 of them.
Just one football pitch-sized asteroid would be capable of obliterating a large city and could cause widespread destruction by also
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
wouldnt it be easier to design one to land gently on the rock then set up the bomb and detonate.
Great, so if the ‘roid coming at us is 6 months away then we are ******.
I recommend using a small triangular ship that spits little blips that destroy asteroids. Such a ship could be rotated left and right. Studies have shown that the cost could be as low as twenty-five cents per game.
That was my first reaction that this spacecraft would take years to 'steer' an asteroid off course.
Then again, this is the first step and better ideas will emerge over time.....hopefully we have time.
I admire the hell out of people that think about this stuff. Thanks for the post!
Assumes you have years. Don't know about the effectiveness of setting off a nuke nearby (sort of a single-shot Orion craft), but there should be some way to just push it away, tugboat style (I assume tugboats can push, as well as pull on ropes).
I did a study back in the 70s where it could be done for free. Didn't get any buyers though.
And we no longer have that technology.
Recently saw a show about this very subject.
Depending on the type of meteorite, blowing it up might be a very bad idea. Instead of one big meteorite heading into earths orbit, you will have a couple of hundred smaller ones
Depending on the spin of the meteorite, they think will tell us how dense it is. A very dense meteorite will break up into smaller pieces and maintain the same orbit, a less dense meteorite will absorb the blast and move in it's orbit
I have run some simulations of that. It works pretty well until the debris is flying in all directions and can come back to destroy the ship.
“A trillion comets orbit the sun. The gravel that surrounds them appears, should it hit our atmosphere, as a shower of meteors. The Earth gains a ton in weight every day from their dust. Two thousand asteroids big enough to destroy civilization orbit nearby. Given the likelihood of a hit in the course of a lifetime, the safety of aircraft, and the few who fly, the chance of an average person meeting death from a comet is higher than that of death n an air crash.”
I mean a bomb just big enough to push it not shatter it.
fragments - just as bad or worse.
Of course if the astroid comes from behind the sun then no notice, just impact. Dec 23 2012?
Years of fuel on board? Don't think so. Unless it's 'nucular'. Then the eviros would never let us launch it.
We already have one. Its called the Space Shuttle. And there is room on it for Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Boxer, Byrd, Rahm Emanuel, and George Soros. One way trip of course.
More tugboats push than ever pulled. See barge "tows" on the Mississippi.
...or hits the Earth if you happen to be looking for a Mahdi creating apocalypse.
Don’t need an astroid for that - just a few Irainan nukes will do - Tel Aviv, Rome, NYC - more likely than an astroid at present.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.