When 1950DA hits in the earth 877 yrs from now...?

Question

do you think we'll have the technology to deflect a direct hit on earth? (not that we'll be around to worry about it- but mankind will need to be on their toes)

Or what about this one getting close in 2036:
http://www.sciencenewsblog.com/cgi-bin/snblog.pl?snblog=1211051

Answer 1

If we do not kill each other off long before then, I would say we Will have enough science and technology to deflect it. *77 yrs are long enough and discoveries never stop. However, there is enough hatred and anger in us humans that 877 is long enough time to know if we will be around for sure; by our own hands.

Answer 2

1950DA has a mass around 3 billion tons. We already have the technology available to deflect something like that, we just do not have the hardware up and ready. Building or adapting a rocket to deliver a nuclear warhead in close proximity so that its trajectory would be nudged to miss earth could be a matter of a couple of years, but it would have to be launched several years before the predicted impact.

Answer 3

Firstly, we have a long time before we know positively that it will be a certain hit....Things have a way of changing in 877 years...
Secondly, We have a long time to do something about it and for
technology to advance such that it may not be a difficult task..
Thirdly, Now is much too early to start worrying about it...

Answer 4

1) we don't know if it's going to hit yet. (cf link)
2) why should you care, you'll be long dead
3) if we have enough warning, then yes... if we knew 50 years ago that an asteroid was going to hit us tomorow, then we would have had the technology to deflect it... Assuming you know what's going to happen long enough before it happens, then you don't need a lot of energy to change things. It's only if you learn it just before it happens that you can't do anything about it anymore.

Answer 5

That has to be one of the most interesting questions I've seen on here. Ummm... and one I have no answer to. Dammit!!