3 ms·
Impact energy would rise with the cube of the diameter, I guess. So splitting up one large asteroid into a swarm of smaller ones is desirable. With any luck, so
by iSnow 11y ago
Impact energy would rise with the cube of the diameter, I guess. So splitting up one large asteroid into a swarm of smaller ones is desirable. With any luck, some of the debris would even miss.
The bigger problem is that that kind of missile system can be easily weaponized (China and the US have successfully tested satellite killers and the USSR maybe too), so simply enhancing ICBMs for that without international oversight is problematic.
- cocoablazing 11y agoThat relation is equivalent to conservation of mass, and wouldn't account for any energy losses. As the asteroid is fragmented, its total cross section rises, increasing energy deposition in the atmosphere, reducing available energy for ejecta. WRT to arms-control regimes: What's the difference between an asteroid-killing BM and an ICBM? Only the warhead count. START inspectors would count such a launcher toward the cap.