Would scientists succeed in stopping an asteroid from wiping out the human race from existing as it did to the dinosaurs who were very strong and lived for millions of years. Is it that scientists cannot stop asteroids from smashing on our planet because of their chaotic orbit or because nobody is ready to invest on that subject?
2006-09-05 16:27:30 · 10 answers · asked by kitty 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
possibly.
Its probable though that we may be able to avoid the wipeout.
We have the technology and capability and/or time based on what we think currently.
It comes down to investment.
We may finally be the first civilization (whatever was here before us) to avoid such cataclysism'.
2006-09-07 05:41:28 · answer #1 · answered by pcreamer2000 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
IF we knew about the asteroid far enough in advance, we MIGHT be able to deflect it. There are some really cool ideas on how to do this. The "gravity tractor" (google it) is the leading idea right now, I think.
The real problem is this: Detecting the asteroid would be a challenge. There was one in the last few years that could have caused localized damage had it hit, it passed CLOSER than the orbit of the moon! And when did we see it? After it had already passed us!
But, the odds of an asteroid that size (as big as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs) hitting us are EXTREMELY thin. And the dinosaurs had been around for millions of years...we've been around less than 100k years. Not that we're guaranteed a minimum lifetime, but it just goes to show how rare such an event is.
And, the odds go down all the time. As the solar system ages there are simply less big rocks out there on unusual orbits. But in all those ideas about age of the solar system and odds dropping over time, etc., the length of a human lifetime is absolutely meaningless.
Humans will adapt better than any other creature, including dinosaurs, to a change in climate. 99% may die, or 99.99%, but *some* would survive, somewhere.
2006-09-05 23:40:42 · answer #2 · answered by Jim S 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, I do not think we have the capability of stopping an asteroid from striking the Earth right now. Mankind would not be wiped out, though.
Man is very resourceful, and civilization may revert to the Dark Ages for a few centuries, but Man would come back and eventually take over again and ruin the Earth again.....
2006-09-05 23:46:04 · answer #3 · answered by jimbo_wizard 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We can't stop an asteroid yet but I think we would adapt better than the dinosaurs did. We can put on coats and communicate rapidly and good stuff like that.
2006-09-06 00:26:12 · answer #4 · answered by Kuji 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
uh as of now we can barely see if an asteroid is coming our way and by the time we figured out it was going to hit us it would probobly be too late, in the future with more advanced techniques it may be possible to somehow divert the the paths of certain asteroids well before they become a threat as to remove altoghter
2006-09-05 23:34:08 · answer #5 · answered by wowdeamon123 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They do have a plan to send a spacecraft to the asteroid and use a solar sail to divert it`s course enough to miss the earth. But likely we won`t discover that asteroid until it`s to late.
2006-09-05 23:32:25 · answer #6 · answered by star sailor 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nah,,,,,It won't take that long for humanity to annihilate itself,,,,,we won't have to wait for an asteroid
2006-09-06 00:28:04 · answer #7 · answered by Dr. Biker 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hemorrhoids?
2006-09-05 23:29:45 · answer #8 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
man on the moon ,space shuttles ,of course we can destroy an asteroid.im sure we are working on it every day...at least lets hope so....
2006-09-06 00:37:46 · answer #9 · answered by octanetwenty 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If we can discover it in time, otherwise, bye bye
2006-09-06 00:19:03 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋