Is there anything we could realistically do to save Earth if a large asteroid will impact within a week?

Question

Does it matter what part of the earth it hits?

Answer 1

Whether it matters or not what part of the Earth it hit would depend on the size of the asteroid.

If it were big enough to not matter what part of the world it hit, we'd probably be screwed because our weapons would be like pebbles to it... even the nukes.

If it were small enough to only hit a country on earth, we might be able to blast it to bits before it reaches us, but we would still run the chance of hitting it at the wrong angle or time and having the deflected bits still hit and although those bits would be smaller, they might still do damage if they hit. And even if it just affected one part of the world, we might still feel the effects world wide in another way. Say for instance that it hit us in America... what would happen to global trade/currency without us?

I think this is one of those things that it's good to think about and plan as best we can, but not to harp on because when it comes down to it, we don't have much control over asteroids and what goes on in outter space.

It does make you think about how it can all LITERALLY be gone in a moment though... and that's very true. Our lives and world are in the hands of nature and chance every day... even for those who don't want to admit to that lack of control.

Answer 2

Do you know something we don't?

With the incredibly high speeds involved combined with the mass and inertia of a large object such as an asteroid I doubt if there would be any way of diverting it.

I suspect that if the world's nuclear powers could actually co-operate long enough to agree they would probably try firing atomic bombs at it. But the guidance systems for these missiles are programmed to navigate them around the Earth, not into space - it would probably take about a week to re-write the software! Either way, nuclear explosions against a large chunk of asteroid aren't going to achieve very much, certainly not enough to make a big difference.

The best approach would be evacuation away from coastal areas (even a huge impact on land may set off earthquakes that could cause tidal waves).

The amount of devastation would depend not so much on where it hit - if it was large enough the effects would be global no matter where it came down - but perhaps *how* it hit. A glancing blow (rather than a direct hit) would have less effect and release less energy.

Answer 3

Sadly enough, I think our best bet would be to try to nuke the sucker (like in the movies). Or maybe try to alter its course with some kind of sonic waves, something along those lines. It would be a long shot, but if we only had a week, I'd be willing to try anything.

If the asteroid were large enough, it would not matter what part of the earth it hit. We would pretty much all be dead regardless. Even if you were to survive the impact, it would only be a matter of time before you no longer had any sources of food or fresh water to sustain you, and the dust scattered about would probably make the air unbreatheable. Not to mention the earthquakes, fires, and tsunamis and all. It wouldn't be pleasant, to say the least.

Answer 4

if an asteroid large enough to wipe us out was to hit earth in a week, there would be absolutely nothing we could do. it wouldn't matter where it hit - even if it hit ocean the dirt thrust into the air by the explosion would blanket the earth for many years and whoever survived the impact would die in the ensuing nuclear winter.

but, at last count, there was a 1 in 5500 chance of an asteroid impacting the earth in 2029. if they can see that far ahead, i wouldn't be worried about only having a week!!!

Answer 5

Honest answer, no.

I'm sure that the governments of the world would put on a big show, fire a few missiles and try whatever they could to give it a nudge so that it misses the Earth but it would be fruitless.

We don't have the technology to destroy or nudge the asteroid within only a week's time. It's simply not possible.

Answer 6

There has been, for a long time, talks of using a nuclear bomb to divert the asteroid's path or slice it into smaller bits.

Of course you can't do that with normal ballastic missile, but we've been able to send spacecraft to other planets and yes, asteroid too the last time I heard. All we need to do is use such spacecraft to carry a very powerful nuclear warhead.

But it will take more than 1 week. Our survival depends on detecting it much earlier than 1 week too.

Answer 7

Here are 2 info (and I imply FACTS, no longer hypothesis) that everybody turns out to disregard, no longer point out, or pass over calmly: It is ESTIMATED (no longer recognized, however guessed at) that there are enormous quantities of undiscovered NEO or Near Earth Objects, Earth-orbit crossing asteroids 100m diameter or better. Given a collision with simply ONE that measurement is a fundamental crisis, I discover guessing at numbers of hazardous items to be no longer all that comforting. The AVERAGE time among fundamental catastrophic collisions (like Chicxulub, Arizona Crater, Tunguska) is many enormous quantities if no longer thousands of years. But that's an AVERAGE period. Some durations can also be longer, or shorter. Two collisions would simply as good come near in combination as some distance aside. Given the HUNDREDS of crater scars and have an effect on remnants obvious from house and detected at the flooring right here on Earth that experience no longer but been erased by means of climate, one will have to no longer take a lot relief in an AVERAGE period that's longer than one's lifestyles expectancy. Another nonetheless principal truth that's past asteroid matters is comets. The very lengthy interval or one-go comets that experience no longer been obvious earlier than don't seem to be expected. And they transfer speedy. Some can seem on discovery pictures as mere dots past Jupiter, and are available almost the solar in a 12 months or much less. As Jupiter has proven us two times within the final 2 a long time, a success from a comet can also be particularly an occasion. Still yet another assertion that I discover little relief in is the only "You are much more likely to die from an asteroid or comet hit than be killed in a airplane crash". Well, I was once approximately three hundred toes from the have an effect on of a 727 airliner with one hundred thirty five folks on board. I was once in my entrance backyard in San Diego at the morning of September 25, 1978. Since my spouse was once a flight attendant with yet another airline, I was once no longer excited about going to view the destruction of lives and estate. I was once on a DC-eight coming to land at Love Field, Dallas within the Nineteen Sixties, and appeared out the window to look a Cessna aircraft going the wrong way simply past the wingtip. Those 2 circumstances have proven me that air screw ups can or would hit almost house. And if an asteroid has a higher threat of having me than the ones, I am no longer exact of the defense of estimates and averages I see in every single place.

Answer 8

well we could not slow down the asteroid in a week, but we could save live by informing them on what to do in this situation.

if it is going to hit the water we would tell the people in costal cities to leave. and then if it would hit land, tey should get as far away as possible.

yes it does make a difference

Answer 9

Doesn't matter what part...probably land better than ocean...well, maybe not. Depends on the size of the thing.

No, cannot avert it...not in a week. If we had 5 years, mankind would put down all their wars, and bind together with the sole purpose of finding a solution.

Answer 10

We would not be able to do anything about it.
A large enough one would make no difference where it hit the earth.