6 ms·
If we ever achieve some form of reasonable, in-system spaceflight, then we are really going to have to start worrying about every crazy person with a spaceship
by douche 10y ago
If we ever achieve some form of reasonable, in-system spaceflight, then we are really going to have to start worrying about every crazy person with a spaceship bumping a smallish space rock into an impact orbit with earth. Or even just unfortunate accidents. But it wouldn't take much of an asteroid to burn down through the atmosphere and create a Tunguska-level impact.
The most recent Expanse novel is an interesting take on how apocalyptic such an event could be http://amzn.to/2aD2AFl http://amzn.to/2aD2AFl
- JoeAltmaier 10y agoIt would take incredible energy over a long burn time to accomplish that.
- smallnamespace 10y agoIt also takes a lot of energy to make intrasystem travel a quotidian reality.
- JoeAltmaier 10y agoStill several zeros apart. Moving a small ship vs moving a mountain
- smallnamespace 10y agoSure, but intrasystem travel will only be economical if we can mine and get fuel, energy, and mass from non-Earth sources. If we get to that point, scaling up just consists of waiting a few decades of exponential growth to kick in. It might not even involve humans, but just letting automated robots continue to build more robots. If the technology is there, moving mountains instead of ships is just a small jump.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoYou don't have to move a mountain very much, or very fast. You need to slowly nudge it. Aerobraking will do the rest.
- JoeAltmaier 10y agoSure. but the danger of 'some crazy' doing this undetected for a decade it takes to realign its orbit? That's where we started.