Alan Boyle has the story on the asteroid that came within a few thousand miles a couple days ago. And meanwhile, we continue to waste billions on unaffordable and unnecessary new launch systems while doing nothing to become more truly space faring.
13 thoughts on “Another Close Call”
Comments are closed.
And meanwhile, we continue to waste billions on unaffordable and unnecessary new launch systems while doing nothing to become more truly space faring.
It gets worse, TIME magazine considers Ares I the invention of the year. I guess it was a bad year for inventions. Let’s hope next year will be better.
Especially since Ares I hasn’t been invented yet. Does that mean that it’s going to be the invention of the year for the next five plus years (assuming generously that it ever does get invented)?
In fact it’s not even an invention at all. The rocket was an invention, this is just another model. Let’s award them a Nobel Peace Prize instead.
Oh come on, Ares I isn’t just another rocket. Ares I is a rocket — on STEROIDS. A truly impressive feat of testosterone induced engineer. The only thing they have to worry about now are the side effects of testosterone that make your Stick limp.
9000 miles and just 15 hours. That’s kinda close!!
Granted asteroids that size won’t create another Arizona Meteor Crater. It could certainly screw up lives around impact for hundreds of miles, depending on where and what it hit.
The article says nothing about Bruce Willis being called, so, maybe I’m over reacting?
Asteroids like that won’t be noticed on the ground. It’s actually a good sign that we’re spotting asteroids that are too small to cause us harm. It means we’re doing something right and are more likely to spot a real threat before it hits us rather than after.
I really don’t like how no one is seeing these until hours or days beforehand. Or afterwards. Sure, we’ve gotten lucky with the recent ones not being large, but luck isn’t something I want to bet the species on.
Someone needs to find a way to finance Sen. Shelby’s third house with the graft from a fully fledged asteroid detection system. That ought to get things moving.
Well, 23 feet across, I’m surprised they saw it as soon as they did.
So what happens when the identify that 400 yard diameter one that won’t blow up in the atmosphere? Say they see it a day in advance and it is going to hit a populated area. What then? There is no plan as far as I know.
So what happens when the identify that 400 yard diameter one that won’t blow up in the atmosphere? Say they see it a day in advance and it is going to hit a populated area. What then? There is no plan as far as I know.
If you can figure how where it will hit you can (partially) evacuate the area. Also this is a great heads up for twitchy nuclear powers. Emergency services can be warmed up.
Even if you don’t have a clue where it’s going to hit (say they can only narrow it down to somewhere between LA and Paris), you can still have an impromptu holiday where everyone hangs out in the basement.
What then? There is no plan as far as I know.
The cold war provided us with the relevant contingency plan:
1. stand with your feet planted a little over shoulder width apart.
2. bend over.
3. firmly grasp your ankles.
4. kiss your ass goodbye.
Damn! I was going to write that. I was!
So what happens when the identify that 400 yard diameter one that won’t blow up in the atmosphere? Say they see it a day in advance and it is going to hit a populated area. What then?
“Be somewhere else” is good advice, but not helpful if the impact parameters would make evacuation impossible … say, Long Island Sound or 100 miles off the coast of Delaware, with only a day or two of warning. For a large impactor, you might need to evacuate most of the continent — see the Younger Dryas Event … I’d prefer active measures.
What would it take to actively deal with the threat of an impact with five to 200 hours warning, using current technology? (E.g., no orbiting laser cannons with 10-meter beam diameters, and no spacecraft carrying a hastily trained crew of oil drillers.)
It would be nice to have one or several solid-fuel interceptor vehicles ready and waiting in orbit, with a small second stage for mid-course corrections and a nuke as payload. (Hell, use Minuteman III missiles if you can figure out a way to get them up there!) You’d want to engage the target as far away from Earth as possible, to give the debris time to scatter and to avoid any EMP effects. I don’t think you’d want to launch from Earth surface if you could avoid it — why waste all that delta-v just to climb out of a gravity well?
But are we likely to implement any kind of active interception system before the next big rock hits us? Do chickens have lips?