5 ms·
The solar system has had 4.6 billion years to settle. To me, being ignorant of the field, it seems dangerous to artificially nudge asteroids like this. Who know
by davidhyde 4y ago
The solar system has had 4.6 billion years to settle. To me, being ignorant of the field, it seems dangerous to artificially nudge asteroids like this. Who knows what butterfly wings will do when small gravitational effects begin to cascade. That said, there is a lot of space out there and the probability of disrupting the equilibrium is probably very low.
- techdragon 4y agoThis is why we nudged the moon in this asteroid pair. Overall the change in the entire system is much smaller and less of an effect on the overall solar orbit of the pair. This was effectively a nearly perfect opportunity to, safely without the risks your mentioning, test the concept before we need it for real in an emergency.
- davidhyde 4y agoThank you for this insight. I had no idea that was the reason.