Patriot missile vs 17m diameter iron-rock boulder that can take a 300 to 500 megaton shock and keep on going is going to do just what?
A candle to outshine a nuke blast....
you are adding a candle to a 300 to 500 megaton shock, and i've written a patriot-like... we have bigger missile, just to give an idea that if we can see them coming we CAN do something..
And helping the initial blast to break the meteorite is the best idea, in the hope smaller fragment will "burn" faster and not hit the ground
(sorry for my bad English)
300,000,000 x 2000 lbs TNT equal +plus+ 200 lbs (if that) TNT equal....... such a difference the plus makes!
But we don't SEE the rock until there is no time to launch. And good that is because somebody would get the bright idea to shoot 100 megaton nukes at it!
That rock over Russia was a little pebble compared to the one that went by. Please, get an idea of the scale of sizes, speeds and distances involved. You might as well carry an umbrella in old Pompeii as to shoot any missile that takes less than a day just to fuel at a rock big enough to be a problem.
Mark Twain has already provided the solution...
With a little help from MIT...
That would be the asteroid with the orbit that's slightly inside Earth's so moves a bit faster.
I'll leave that unfinished.
dont you guys know yet? they all were part of the debris that planet nibiru left after going thru the asteroid field. more is coming. nibiru passes thru it twice on its way around the sun. i can get killed off for the info i know.
wow that explains everything. Thank you to risk your life to save us from the dictatorship of the media and Masonic.
And helping the initial blast to break the meteorite is the best idea, in the hope smaller fragment will "burn" faster and not hit the ground
If we see the meteorite in time(!) we can add a rocket to it and just deviate its trajectory so it crosses just after earth.
Not pulverize but guide it ==> No worries if "pebbles" will hit the earth and burn or not.
If we do not see it in time to do that nuking it might be the best option, not frontal but from the side so it changes its trajectory so it will miss earth is possible
By nuking it from the side we can try to guide the place(s) of impact to a place with least "impact".
We should be capturing and mining those rocks, not throwing them away. But to capture a mountain moving at orbital speed will take more than anything made so far.
Niburu... is an asteroid that follows Earth orbit about 60 degrees (2 months) ahead of Earth. Check with NASA on that, they found it and named it years ago. It is small compared to an unworn mountain and doesn't have any way to break out of orbit and go sailing around half the solar system while changing size and mass.
It's also the name that total airheads attach to their psychotic fantasies and con-artists use to play on the stupid with. Oh noes! The UFO's are coming, a Niburu and a whole mini-solar system! Stock up on water and don't forget to BUY OUR BOOKS!
But to capture a mountain moving at orbital speed will take more than anything made so far.
Given enough time one can bring any (almost) asteroid in orbit by attaching rockets to it.
But picking those that almost have the right orbit will be most fuel efficient.
robtillaart:
But to capture a mountain moving at orbital speed will take more than anything made so far.
Given enough time one can bring any (almost) asteroid in orbit by attaching rockets to it.
But picking those that almost have the right orbit will be most fuel efficient.
I agree about the time element. But if the rockets don't use some of the asteroid for the main reaction mass (and solar power) there's no way to afford lifting enough to make a real difference.
Maybe there's a way to use solar sails even. MIT students suggest using white paint to force asteroids to higher (slower) orbits for safety but to me that's just setting up future problems.
Even if we catch one, that's a lot of inertia to go positioning about. I'd park the thing behind Earth on the orbit and work it there, not try to put it in orbit here.
Maybe in 200 years the operation could be routine if we don't lose the capability to wars.
I agree about the time element. But if the rockets don't use some of the asteroid for the main reaction mass (and solar power) there's no way to afford lifting enough to make a real difference.
They probably should otherwise it will be VERY expensive (although the alternative is too)
Maybe there's a way to use solar sails even. MIT students suggest using white paint to force asteroids to higher (slower) orbits for safety but to me that's just setting up future problems.
Solar sails will work up to a certain distance in the solar system. Check the site of the planetary society, they are busy with such a thing.
Painting the thing white (for 50% !) will cause the "gas bursts" first on the dark sides giving it direction. There is however a serious "risk" you need to repaint several times.
BTW, "gas bursts" include stone and dust can damage solar sails.
Gas burst on the sun side, solar sail on the other after the spin has been stopped otherwise the sail just becomes wrapping so you don't need dark sections... howzit gonna hit? I think the sail would have to be furled before passing through comet paths to avoid being shotgunned as the bigger problem. Old spacers can reminisce about times through the Perseids and Leonids centuries after scifi writers wrote about old spacers reminiscing about it.
I also have to wonder about the lifetime of meteoroids ablating that aren't already known comets. The light stuff has value in not having to be hauled into orbit but not compared to the rich strikes.
Given the precious metals market it's easy to see that the haves will go schizo between wanting to grab up any big discoveries and wanting to suppress any chance of such an upset in their fortunes. Oh well, the big dogs will fight and the little dogs will take sides. No change there.