Are we really helpless against asteroids impacts ?

If ( and I hope I am wrong ) most of these monster asteroids are in fact mostly just 'sitting there' then what defense do we have.
Most meteors that enter our atmosphere at high speed really only appear to travel fast because ( hope I am wrong again ) the earth runs into them at high speed ( quick calc gives pi x 186 million miles ( D ) divided by 8760 hours ( in a year ) = 66,731 miles per hour ).
If all this is so then we would have to deflect the trajectory of the EARTH in order to avoid a predicted impact.
Have a nice day !

It would be very difficult or near impossible to avoid a large asteroid that's on a direct collision course with earth. Because of the mass and inertia of earth and the asteroid, changing the course of the asteroid would not be easy because of it's massive size.

Of course, some smaller asteroids that don't pose a threat to the existance of man can be ignored, but we have to pay attention to anything bigger than 50m. That's when the asteroid starts coming through the atmosphere instead of buring up like most others do.

The Tunguska asteroid (the one that blew up in Siberia) was about 100 meters in diameter. It made it partway through the atmosphere, but then it exploded. It flattened like over 1500 sq kilometers of forest. Now imagine what would happen if it hit the earth.

In 1994, Congress told NASA to start monitaring asteroids that were 1 km or bigger in diameter, which would cause a major disaster if it hit the earth. In reality, there are less people monitoring asteroids at one time than how many people work at theh average McDonald's resturant.

It has been concieved of using a spaceship as a tugboat, moving the killer asteroid slowly at years at a time. I'm a bit skeptical about this, because wouldn't the asteroid drag the spaceship instead of vice versa?

Sending a nuke up there is not a good idea. Why? Instead of a huge asteroid hitting earth, you now have hundreds of smaller potentially threatening asteroids, most of them missing earth of course, heading towards us. Plus, the fallout from the blast would float around in space, not a good thing for the aliens.

If we all move to one side of the earth at the same time then we can at least avoid the impact when it hits!

Otherwise kiss your butt goodbye!

I think we need to put the moon to good use, Maybe use it to block the asteroid. Nah...wouldn't work, would have to get really lucky and hope the moon gets in the way. We would be toast if something big came along. Send 10 people up to the space station with enough supplies to last them a few years so they can eventually repopulate the earth. We would be pretty stupid for awhile with all the inbreeding and stuff, but it supposedly worked out well for Adam and Eve and Noah's family. Of course they didn't have to land a space shuttle.

Dude, they got a spacecrew like in Armageddon just waiting for that to happen.

Originally posted by m0rbid
Dude, they got a spacecrew like in Armageddon just waiting for that to happen.

i see there is a serious lack of etiquette regarding this thread...THENEO what's the matter with you?
*looks at every1 in the room in disbelief*

armageddon??? morbid
armageddon is a myth, a "fairytale"(bruce IS in actual fact a fairy

taking an inteligent guess, several lasers should be built at 4 points on earth....this should have been done already, sadly the U.S military relies on 1 to do the job, therefore allowing a day in between blasts


[Edited on 31-10-2003 by Cyrus]

Why worry about something that can't be changed? Why worry about something that may never happen? Why would you want to change the natural course of evolution?

Makes no sense. Most people are so concerned about their own existence that they fail to see the larger picture. Our pitiful existence on this planet is only temporary. We stand on the cusp of self destruction anyway, so why worry about stopping a natural occurance that may never happen?

[Edited on 31-10-2003 by Dr. Know]

Cyrus

Tell me, how does some "lasers to destroy meteorites" don't fit in a 'fairy tale' too?

Oh wait, they're not fairy tale, they're star trek episode... lol..

I kinda like the armageddon scenario myself..


please forgive my spelling

Originally posted by Cyrus
taking an inteligent guess, several lasers should be built at 4 points on earth....this should have been done already, sadly the U.S military relies on 1 to do the job, therefore allowing a day in between blasts

[Edited on 31-10-2003 by Cyrus]

I think they have much more important concern right now...Like taking over the world. See, for 'em being "proactive" means thinking about tomorow, not thinking about in 5 or ten years.

When they start coming in I think I will try to get right underneath one.

The easy way to go!

Pity the poor shytes that try to avoid it and having to face like a nuclear winter or whatever in a destroyed world.

I would think that an elect few could be saved by entering sub-orbit several days before the crash. You would only need to fly around for several days before you could return and take over the world. So I would think that PNAC and crew have a huge X-craft somewhere (or something comparable) and they would fly up, chill for a while, and come back down.

Another way is to chill out in a really deep underground installation and hope that the exit tunnell does not collapse.

Yet a further way, more accessible to you and I, is to go to an underwater base. I think they're building an underwater cansino somewhere. You could buy a spot several weeks before impact.

As reply to the post title, i think we don't know until it comes to it. There is no need to worry about this because you have more chance getting hit and killed by a car tomorrow then killed via an asteroids

Ktprktpr,

LOL of course the weasels have a way out!

Will it work though?

They will also be at the vulnerability of the aliens own backstabbing.

Originally posted by m0rbid
Cyrus

Tell me, how does some "lasers to destroy meteorites" don't fit in a 'fairy tale' too?

Oh wait, they're not fairy tale, they're star trek episode... lol..

*takes off tinfoil hat in protest*

ok fine.....so what?? star trek seemed a good way to go at the time
im lacking my usual sense of humour....o well, every1's entitled to 1 bad day




[Edited on 31-10-2003 by Cyrus]

Remember that anything that blasts apart the meteorite will just make it into smaller pieces, making it more likely that the earth will be hit. It's like turning it into a shotgun blast.

As for underground bunkers, they have to be quite tough to withstand a meteorite impact. The shock of the blast will be felt around the world, so it's like an earthquake, on a much larger scale. No one wants to be in a basement during an earthquake , right?

read em and weep

neo.jpl.nasa.gov...
cfa-www.harvard.edu...
cfa-www.harvard.edu...

[Edited on 31-10-2003 by straterx]

[Edited on 31-10-2003 by straterx]

[Edited on 31-10-2003 by straterx]

I believe it was Popular Mechanics (perhaps Popular science) that had a large article on this very topic. There are numerous plans that could be put into action to avoid a possible collision. Unfortunatly most of the technology we have relies on having huge amounts of warning, like decades. The idea of lasers has been debunked many times.

Originally posted by who
I believe it was Popular Mechanics (perhaps Popular science) that had a large article on this very topic. There are numerous plans that could be put into action to avoid a possible collision. Unfortunatly most of the technology we have relies on having huge amounts of warning, like decades. The idea of lasers has been debunked many times.

the idea of lasers was a joke....a crap one at that
u cant be serious though....lasers?
any links?

Originally posted by Saucerat
Remember that anything that blasts apart the meteorite will just make it into smaller pieces, making it more likely that the earth will be hit. It's like turning it into a shotgun blast.

As for underground bunkers, they have to be quite tough to withstand a meteorite impact. The shock of the blast will be felt around the world, so it's like an earthquake, on a much larger scale. No one wants to be in a basement during an earthquake , right?

at any rate we'll suffer losses...i'd prefer the shotgun effect, it wont kill off earth...only us :puzany1 feeling a lil sacrificial lately? i didnt think so