3 ms·
But of course the easiest way to "gently push an asteroid slightly off course" that we're aware of is a slightly subsurface detonation that displaces a lot of s
by jhgb 5y ago
But of course the easiest way to "gently push an asteroid slightly off course" that we're aware of is a slightly subsurface detonation that displaces a lot of solid matter in one direction in an explody manner.
- perl4ever 5y agoI would've thought the most practical way, provided there's enough lead time, would be to attach something like an ion thruster and apply a tiny thrust over months if not years.
- jhgb 5y agoEven with enough lead time, displacing as much mass as possible at just above escape velocity is the most efficient impulse transfer. For an asteroid of appreciable size, your tiny thrust would have to be not-so-tiny anyway. (Plus, chances are that a large mirror stimulating the Yarkovsky effect might be more efficient at this, and without the issues that a prolonged contact with a complex spacecraft might bring.)
- mikewarot 5y agoThat direction needs to be planned, or you could just make it worse. It was a big worry that when Bruce Willis triggered the nuke, splitting Asteroid Dottie in half, it would just happen to line up with doing nothing, and all would be for naught.
- jhgb 5y agoYou can certainly plan the detonation point.
- mikewarot 5y agoMy point was what if you split it in half, and you only succeed in making one half arrive at the impact site slightly faster than the other half, instead of changing either direction at all?
- jhgb 5y agoAll you need to do is to ensure that there's not only the two halves involved. As long as some substantial mass escapes completely, it basically doesn't matter if the rest is split or not - conservation of momentum guarantees a substantial change in trajectory (at least relative to the accuracy requirements for Earth impact).
- mikewarot 5y agoOf course you're right if the thing isn't just about to hit earth, any change years in advance is almost guaranteed to help.