3 ms·
That comparison is a bit disingenuous. There's plenty of opportunity to correct the trajectory as and when you need to, which is something you can't do with a b
by Osmium 12y ago
That comparison is a bit disingenuous. There's plenty of opportunity to correct the trajectory as and when you need to, which is something you can't do with a bullet. Still a huge achievement though.
What I find particularly impressive is that they managed to get in a fly-by of two different asteroids as well! So that the orbit was optimised to hit not one but three targets (though presumably they had a lot of asteroids to chose from).
- StavrosK 12y agoAren't the adjustments minute, though? Although I guess that even minute adjustments of the angle will result in huge changes in the final trajectory, over thousands of kilometers.
- greenhorn 12y agoYou are correct that the adjustments are minute. But you're also ignoring the fact that unlike a bullet, there isn't any atmosphere or unpredictible factors in your way. You can do the math and be sure about it. You can also use your math to course-correct after the fact. That's not at all like pointing your gun and pulling the trigger.