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The article is from 2004, and there is no longer considered to be any possibility of that meteor, 99942 Apophis, hitting Earth in 2029. But yes, they need to develop the tech to deal with large rocks hitting Earth in the future. One the size of Apophis would strike us with more energy than the biggest nuke.
The article is from 2004, and there is no longer considered to be any possibility of that meteor, 99942 Apophis, hitting Earth in 2029. But yes, they need to develop the tech to deal with large rocks hitting Earth in the future. One the size of Apophis would strike us with more energy than the biggest nuke.
true that 2029 is no longer an issue, however when that meteor returns in 2036,after its trip around the sun, it might hit us then.
but i also agree that we do need to develop technologies to deal with these rocks in space. but to think that destroying them is even possible, guess again. better bets would be to use gravity ships to redirect these meteors. we would however need to identify them while they are still years away from earth, and send these rockets to them. but we also need to be very careful that while we can move them through either gravity, or using lasers to burn off small portions of the meteors and use that burn as a jet to move the meteor, we have to make sure that we move them in such a manner as to prevent them from hitting the earth on a return trip.
true that 2029 is no longer an issue, however when that meteor returns in 2036,after its trip around the sun, it might hit us then.
but i also agree that we do need to develop technologies to deal with these rocks in space. but to think that destroying them is even possible, guess again. better bets would be to use gravity ships to redirect these meteors. we would however need to identify them while they are still years away from earth, and send these rockets to them. but we also need to be very careful that while we can move them through either gravity, or using lasers to burn off small portions of the meteors and use that burn as a jet to move the meteor, we have to make sure that we move them in such a manner as to prevent them from hitting the earth on a return trip.
It is possible to turn an asteroid into harmless rubble with nukes but would require bombs much bigger than anything that has ever been built. And of course keeping bombs like that on Earth would be more dangerous than the threat they are intended to prevent. So other options, as you mention, are far better.
It is possible to turn an asteroid into harmless rubble with nukes but would require bombs much bigger than anything that has ever been built. And of course keeping bombs like that on Earth would be more dangerous than the threat they are intended to prevent. So other options, as you mention, are far better.
that depends on the make up of the asteroid in question. if it is a loose collection of small rocks and loose dirt, then perhaps a nuke could do the job. but if it is made of densely packed iron, or other hard materials, then all a nuke would do is break it up into a few slightly smaller pieces that would still wreak havoc on earth, and instead of in one location primarily, it would be in several locations around the world.
We need a better asteroid detection system before an asteroid defense system. There are still "close" calls that are not detected until they are passing us. Let's not waste money on trying to destroy something we can't even detect.
all a nuke would do is break it up into a few slightly smaller pieces that would still wreak havoc on earth, and instead of in one location primarily, it would be in several locations around the world.
Yes, I realize that, which is why I said that a much larger nuke than any we have would be required... if you were going to rely on nukes to do the job which I agree is a bad idea.
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