Assume a 400 km diameter asteroid s headin 4 earth's surface. Suggest feasible meth to avert da disaster?

Answer 1

1. As suggested by a former astronaut you can position a spacecraft near the asteroid to slightly nudge it out of the way. It will take some time but, it will work.
2. A huge solar mirror made out of very thin and cheap Mylar could create a light sail that would use light pressure and radiation from the sun to steer the asteroid out of the way.
3. A rocket could be attached to the asteroid to push it, better yet an ion rocket. An ion rocket provides a very small thrust over a very long period. The first ion rocket engine every used is in the New Horizons spacecraft and it is currently the fastest moving object every made by man on its way to Pluto.
4. A space based laser could be aimed at the corner of the asteroid to boil away part of it. As that happens the boiling action would nudge the asteroid slightly out of it’s collision orbit.

Orbital mechanics are well understood and if you have enough warning then you can take an easy method that provides only a little thrust to push the rock out of the way. The effect of just a little effort over a long time can be enough to save the Earth. The problem is we have to know about those asteroids before they get too close to the earth. A mission like that in Armageddon would actually require hundreds of megatons or even gigatons of nuclear explosives to push an asteroid away from an Earth collision. No nation is going to allow anyone to put half of their nuclear arsenal into orbit. The idea of making a last minute launch of every single nuclear missile on the planet would only turn one huge collision into millions of mighty collisions. The disaster would still be the same it would just be spread across the earth quicker and all the debris would be radioactive as well. Not that most humans would care we would have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

People like Gene Shoemaker are searching the heavens for NEOs Near Earth orbiting Objects. There are millions of them and we haven’t found even 25%. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit Jupiter with the force of several million atomic bombs AFTER it broke into pieces. If it had been a NEO and it could easily have been one then we would have seen another dinosaur killer.

In the year 2029 there is an asteroid that is coming so close to the Earth that it will pass UNDER some of our satellites, and in the year 2036 it is coming back! We know this, but if we started today we couldn’t get a space program up in time to divert that asteroid from an Earth collision, because no on cares about the problem. You only have to look at the moon to see that the chance of being hit by a major asteroid is 100% it is only a matter of time. We are hit every single day by asteroids, in fact a bit of space rock hits the earth, passes through the atmosphere and reaches the ground once every 4 hours. I am talking about rocks that end up the size of your head. The chances of a big one that can do some real damage are unknown, but eventually the chance of one hitting us is a certainty.

Answer 2

Launch several small probes to land on the surface of the asteroid and slowly nudge it out of its trajectory towards Earth. A gentle nudge will go a long way.

Destroying the asteroid as in the movies is ineffective as it just sends several smaller sized pieces at the Earth which can do a substantial amount of damage.

A lot of politics will go into nudging the asteroid out of the path. If the asteroid is calculated to land in the US and we have to slowly nudge it out of the way....now it's calculated to land over Europe for a little while. I don't think the European nations would be too happy if our little boosters broke down right when it was calculated to land on their doorstep.

Also, if this asteroid was going to hit.....one hopes we find it a decade or more out. This technology takes time to create.

Answer 3

Given our modern-day state of preparedness, 5 years isn't sufficient time. yet, for arguments sake, there are 2 strategies we would cope with this disaster. One, while attempt a manner referred to as "gravitational towing." this suggests we deliver a particularly heavy satellite tv for pc to rendezvous with the asteroid and orbit around it for some years. The perturbations led to with the aid of the satellite tv for pc will regulate the process the asteroid. no longer with the aid of plenty, purely some a million/a hundredth of a %,yet over the process one hundred billion km it relatively is sufficient to instruct a success right into a focused to omit. 2, we dispense shovels to each guy, woman and baby on the earth and dig a 30 km extensive hollow nevertheless the planet, precisely aligned so as that the asteroid will fly good with the aid of on the appointed time. of course, this plan stands no threat of working, however the digging will provide each and every physique some thing to do on a similar time as waiting for specific dying.

Answer 4

Depends upon how far away it is from earth when it is detected....other than that ....say your prayers and make your peace with God.

Answer 5

bend, kneel down, put your hands together, begin praying with all the sincerety you can muster...and mean it....because only the hand of GOD can help you now

Answer 6

isn't one supposed to hit Mexico soon?