Good summary by the BBC of small proof of concept test for dealing with future large objects that will come our way:
I think maybe I lack imagination, because although I see this as a very cool proof of concept academic exercise, I donāt see this ever practically working. Any asteroid or comet of sufficient mass to pose a threat to life on Earth, will not be dissuaded so easily. Iām not a physicist, but I do know how to do basic math, and it seems to me that the amount of mass or force necessary to significantly alter a massive objectās path is going to be much more than we can muster.
In my mind, itās not that we are limited by current technology, per se, rather that the laws of physics and our ability to bring enough mass to bear are the limiting factors. I canāt help but compare us to a moth trying to alter the trajectory of a fully loaded 18 wheeler traveling at 100 mph by smashing itself into the windshield. In theory, that mothās mass DID alter that truckās trajectory, but in reality it may as well not have for all the difference it would make.
The big take away from the video seems to be that they can actually hit the asteroid at all. In itself an amazing accomplishment. Very cool.
The key factor there is, the farther out it is, the less change in trajectory required for it to miss earth, so early warning if the key there. Far enough out, a tiny alteration in trajectory is all thatās needed. But, we best start now to figure that out, and thatās what is happening as itās not an matter of if, but when, we are on directly collision course with something that will wipe us out. Meanwhile, people give a damn about useless nonsense, sports scores, etc, and clueless about that, likely didnāt even know about this impressive mission.
True. And Iāve tried to take that into account in my thought experiment. It really would have to be a very long off, with sufficient warning for us to prepare a mission, launch that mission, and then subsequently intercept the object far enough away to sufficiently alter its path. It will be closing ground the whole time weāre moving to intercept, narrowing our window of possible success constantly. Like I said in my other post, perhaps I simply lack imagination, but I think in order for us to do so with enough mass to make a difference seems like the longest of long shots. I may be mistaken, and even if Iām not, it doesnāt mean we donāt try, no?
Yes distance is key to a successful trajectory change of the object. Still if that is done it does not take much to change it. Simply changing the brightness and reflectivity of one side over the other is enough to alter orbital tracks. Stick a solar sail on it and watch it leave the system for good. Better yet capture the object and stick it in a following parking orbit of earth for ease of grabbing it later on for the purposes of mining it.
This is a classic head fake story. Not sure if itās real on notā¦ nor do I care. But we need to stay on the primary distraction. Being mad about abortion.
It seems like they scored a bullseye. So, I gotta knowā¦. did they use MOA or MIL?
They just licked that ole Front Sight, let out a gobbleā¦ and let her rip.
Very cool. The brainpower that goes into making these projects work is truly humbling.
Attaching a small ion drive to it would also work given enough time.
They will need to incorporate a payload to even begin to address threats, this was just a dry run.
Right now the biggest known risk is 99942 Apophis which in 2006 was seen as possibly on target for a direct impact on April 13, 2036 and yes that is a Friday. It has since been revised and there was an earlier date of concern for April 13, 2029 which is not currently believed to be a threat but this one could easily be a problem in the immediate future even though a direct impact has been ruled out by the JPL.
We have had more than a few close ones that passed within half the distance to the moon, thankfully most of them have been pretty small compared to the ones we worry about. Asteroid 2012 DA14 flew by very close in 2013.
Exactly many methods of dealing with such things, if we pay proper attention. I am for capturing all neos (near earth objects) and making them follow the earth for future capture and mining. That is if we want to be forward thinking.
Their theories are nice and cool. Until they **** up and actually do the opposite of what theyāre trying to prevent.
Thatās what testing is for, and the other option, which is do nothing, is not an option at all. This is something we should have been developing a long time ago.
I donāt necessarily disagree with you. I think some things are very important. However, if there is one thing I have learned just from being in the career field Iām in now, the smart ones (ones I call super nerds) lack the basic common sense and it usually bites them in the ass 99% of the time.
Given the state of our space program last 20 years, I donāt know that we could have accomplished even this had we tried.
Which is why, I suspect, they hit the smaller one that is orbiting the larger one. This is just an early step, got to start somewhere.