3 ms·
No, this was a successful test! Very small changes in the energy of an object can cause large changes in its trajectory. An impact at this same scale could be
by ericbarrett 4y ago
No, this was a successful test! Very small changes in the energy of an object can cause large changes in its trajectory. An impact at this same scale could be the difference between a direct collision with Earth, and not even getting inside the moon's orbit. We don't need any mass to be knocked off. In fact, it's probably even more effective if the target stays intact.
What we do need is time. If the asteroid is weeks away, we've got a great chance of deflecting it. If it's hours, we'll certainly be struck.
- Tepix 4y agoWe need years, not weeks
- jessaustin 4y agoWe'll need decades to install a system that could solve this problem when given weeks of notice. Perhaps those decades of effort will start soon? Alternatively, if we knew a particular asteroid would threaten us in one decade, that one decade might be enough to do something about it. Many asteroids won't give us that sort of notice, since orbits can have century-long periods.