is there really anything we could do to stop a incoming asteroid?

Answer 1

Maybe...

Ever since we first discovered some heavenly objects wth near earth orbits, we have been actively searching for objects that might mean a collision in the future, and we have been thinking up creative ways to save our skin. some of there methods might actually work, but we would never really know until we try.

The good news is that we really dont have to completely destroy an asteriod to save ourselves, deflecting it so it passes by us might be easier to achive. besides blowing up might not engirely work as the pieces might still be large enough to cause damage, you are only spreading the blow, but the energy is still there.

Methods so far debated and seriously considered by the scientific community include:

**Detonating internally.One strategy is to plant powerful explosives inside the asteroid, detonate them and break the asteroid into pieces.
**Kinetic impact. An alternative means of deflecting an asteroid is to attempt to directly alter its momentum by sending a spacecraft to collide with the asteroid.
**Detonating an explosive nuclear device above the surface, with the blast vaporizing part of the surface of the object and nudging it off course with the reaction. This is a form of nuclear pulse propulsion.
** Setting up "mass drivers" on the object to scoop up dusty material and shoot it away, giving the object a slow, steady nudge.
** Flying a big sheet of reflective aluminize PET film to wrap itself around the asteroid, acting as a "solar sail" to use the pressure of sunlight to shift the object's orbit.
** Dusting the object with powdered chalk or soot to perform a similar adjustment, utilising the Yarkovsky effect.
**Attaching a large enough solar sail directly to the object, thus using solar pressure to shift the object's orbit
**Wrapping the asteroid in a sheet of reflective plastic such as aluminized PET film, or dusting the object with titanium dioxide to alter its trajectory via radiation pressure

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to all of the above techniques. Which one would be most effective would actually depend on the actual object, its size, composition, velocity etc, and also on how long we have for the defence. the earlier it is detected, the better. As our space technology and space infrastructure advance, we might be able to come up with better solutions.

Answer 2

Some of the previous answers are interesting. The idea of using a lightsail has been considered one of the most practical ideas. However, you can't just wrap a sheet of reflective material around an asteroid. The sail has to be many times the diameter of the asteroid to provide enough thrust. You would also need a vehicle with an ion engine to deliver the sail. The ion engine itself would not be sufficient to move the asteroid effectively.

Nuclear has been talked about but it has a big problem. Nuclear explosions only generate heat and very little gas. To push the asteroid in one direction you have to push something in the opposite direction. For nuclear explosions to be effective you need some kind of reaction mass.

Using one asteroid to alter the course of another is somewhat interesting but it doesn't really help in most cases. You simply change the problem of shifting the colliding asteroid to the problem of shifting the propelling asteroid. The idea of having enough of these in an orbit all the way around the sun betwen Mars and Jupitor though is extremely impractical. Prepositioning some type of lightsail craft would probably be a good idea though.

Answer 3

Depends on its' size and how much notification we have. We are safe from known asteroids for some time to come, but if a little fella comes flying out of nowhere, we are screwed.

If we had some time, we could deflect the path of the asteroid, but that would take a herculean effort.

George Bush couldn't even save New Orleans, and he knew Katrina was coming for more than 3 day. What would he do against an asteroid?

Answer 4

Sure. Just be prepared, as the Scout motto goes.
How can we alter the trajectory of an asteroid? With another asteroid, placed in a convenient location with a propulsion system good enough to place it in a near-parallel trajectory to the incoming one. The gravity of the controlled asteroid would be enough to pull the other asteroid into a trajectory that would miss Earth.

Problems?
1. Convenient: We would need to have several asteroids prepared in advance Way Out There in order to be able to match trajectory on the incoming one.
2. Detection: We would have to detect the bad asteroid WAY WAY OUT THERE in order to calculate the incoming asteroid's trajectory, the suitable good asteroid and its needed intercept trajectory. The early warning system would have to be out there far enough to detect the incoming asteroid far enough away to do any good. Probably many stations with really smart AI's on board who never went to sleep for 1,000 years or so.
3. Propulsion/Control System: Nuclear driven propulsion systems, on a large enough number of asteroids positioned in orbits around the sun to catch any incoming asteroid, with SPS (Solar Positioning System) navigation systems accurate enough to enable command and control communications to what ever agency was in charge of protecting the Earth.

PS. Another scenario would have the bad asteroid pass the Earth's orbit on a previous visit and the future impact could be predicted fairly accurately, giving Earth perhaps 100 years of preparation time. Perhaps a rocket could be launched with a propulsion system on board that would guide the incoming asteroid into the sun on its next pass instead of colliding with Earth.

Problem: If the asteroid is a 'ball of ice,' or too irregular, or spinning too radically, or a gravitationally bound pair, then it would be impossible to attach a propulsion system to it. In that case, another controllable asteroid's gravity would have to be used to deflect the incomer as before.

;-D All this is achievable given today's technology. What is not given is the willingness to spend the money on it and the time needed to build it, if one is already on the way.

PPS. A technology that has not been developed - that might work - is a Very Large Controllable Reflector. (VLCR) This is a spinning mirror about a mile across that is used to heat - using sunlight converted to laser light - a portion of the incomer to a temperature high enough to cause vaporisation and out-gassing. This would use the substance of the incomer as a fuel to alter the trajectory enough to miss Earth. The VLCR could be mostly aluminized Mylar film spinning around a controllable sun-laser. Boring vent holes at properly calculated locations on the incomer would produce high speed venting which - like rocket engines - would change the trajectory of the incomer to a safe vector. The VLCR would only need enough fuel to be able to quickly reach and match trajectory with the incomer. It could keep firing as long as necessary to do the job.

Answer 5

Yes, there is, but it is extremely difficult and complicated.
A space craft loaded with a nuclear bomb could be sent out to meet the asteroid long before it hits the earth.
When the nuclear bomb is exploded on the surface of the asteroid it may "nudge" it just a teeny weeny little bit, but just enough to slightly change its course and cause it to "miss" the earth.

Answer 6

Unless we go up there with space ships equipped with laser blasters like in the cartoons, not really. But, if there was an asteroid the size of a Buick, it would burn up in the atmosphere. If its the size of the moon, it could come down and be as big as north Carolina.

Answer 7

Try nd push it out of the way with a spacecraft

Answer 8

Of course there is..
The more time we had, the more we could do about it..
Given a few years warning, we could probably deflect
a really big asteroid...

Answer 9

it's a really good question...
we may try to avoid an asteroid by modifying its trajectory : we can use nuclear warheads to do that ... OR ...
we may have a super-mega-giant magnet weapon to repel it ... 'cause every asteroid it's made from variuos metals and stuff like that and it has his own magnetical field
it'll be cool to see such a"weapon" in action :D

Answer 10

That movie where a space crew blasts one with a nuclear device is probably not that far off. The movie itself was trash, but the nuclear option may be the only thing that can be done.