NASA Has a New Plan to Detect and Destroy Asteroids Before They Hit Earth

DooKey

DooKey

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NASA has developed a new plan to detect and deflect asteroids that might hit the earth. They plan to enhance our capability to detect near-Earth asteroids and improve our prediction abilities so we have a better idea of when they will strike and where they will strike. Additionally, they are working on ways to deflect or destroy these objects before they can endanger the Earth. Lastly, they want to put together a plan that goes into effect if an asteroid is found that will impact. All of this is needed since Bruce Willis and his team of asteroid deflectors has gotten too old to fly into space. Seriously, it's about time NASA has dusted off the old plans and something needs to be done before we go the way of the dinos. You can read the plan here if you are so inclined.

"Implementing the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan will greatly increase our nation's readiness … to effectively respond, should a new, potential asteroid impact be detected," Johnson said.
 
:p

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This is all moot anyway. When the Ur Quan put up our slave shield, we won't need to worry about asteroids anyway.
 
After glancing at the NASA document, we are boned if anything shows up in the next several years. We will be lucky to see it before impact and have no disclosed way to deflect or destroy it even if we are lucky enough to spot it. The US currently has no way to put Bruce Willis into LEO much less intercept an incoming object with an Armidillo. SpaceX might cobble together something given enough lead time but the 18 days in Armageddon would be 18 days to practice kissing your ass good bye and rushing through your bucket list.
 
Dead Parrot said:
SpaceX might cobble together something given enough lead time but the 18 days
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while im sure spacex would have a rocket ready that could be used, there is nothing to put up on it that would be of any use to deflect an asteroid.

to effectively deflect something that would be dangerous to us would need to happen very far away. By the time anything like that got within the moons orbit.. too late
 
cyclone3d said:
SAILS..... bulk sales of mylar will do nothing to help.
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jesus how did i not catch that lol.

Think I will leave it though.

Now I can't pick on anyone for typo/spelling errors for at least a week.
 
Woody1150 said:
Everytime I read a story like this, in the back of my mind I start wondering, "Do they know something and just don't want to tell us?"
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Sure they do and have you met people? Last time an asteroid came within .25 billion miles of Earth, my neighborhood went into pani mode.

"What if it turns this way??!?"
"The radiation in the wake will be enough to kill us if it misses us!"
"The tides are going to be all over the place. We are not far enough inland to avoid the tsunami it will cause!"
"I bet it is the Russians doing this!"
"This is probably just the warning shot. They are out there."
"We should have never launched those probes showing where we are located!"
"It is going it wipe out every satellite around the planet!"
"We should hit it with an EMP pulse and disable it!"

You get the idea. Yes, there were more. I mean,...damn... A little knowledge is dangerous.
 
BSmith said:
Sure they do and have you met people? Last time an asteroid came within .25 billion miles of Earth, my neighborhood went into pani mode.

"What if it turns this way??!?"
"The radiation in the wake will be enough to kill us if it misses us!"
"The tides are going to be all over the place. We are not far enough inland to avoid the tsunami it will cause!"
"I bet it is the Russians doing this!"
"This is probably just the warning shot. They are out there."
"We should have never launched those probes showing where we are located!"
"It is going it wipe out every satellite around the planet!"
"We should hit it with an EMP pulse and disable it!"

You get the idea. Yes, there were more. I mean,...damn... A little knowledge is dangerous.
Click to expand...

I especially like the EMP one. :D

Personally, I think we should send a Big Boy out there. :p

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Woody1150 said:
Everytime I read a story like this, in the back of my mind I start wondering, "Do they know something and just don't want to tell us?"
Click to expand...
The sky is massive, and finding smaller objects in orbits that you wouldn't expect takes a lot of time. Right now it's easier to view the 5 tiny moons of Pluto than it is to spot objects less than a mile wide on a potential collision course with Earth.

Last decade they detected the asteroid they nicknamed "Apophis". It's big enough and moving fast enough to cause an extinction level event. For years they had it predicted it had a relatively high chance of hitting the Earth in 2029. Further measurements then showed it would get close enough in 2029 for Earth's gravity to tweak it just enough to cause a collision course when it swung by again in 2036. After almost 10 years of observing it, taking continuous measurements, and doing continuous re-calculations have determined the likelihood of it hitting the earth at near zero although it will fly very close. Possible collisions for this object keep getting pushed back by decades with additional observation.

Right now, there are about a half dozen other objects that have a higher chance of hitting us in this century, and those are only the ones we know about.
 
Well, truth is getting hit by an asteroid is unavoidable. Every year we go without being hit brings us one year closer to getting hit.

If we can detect that one and deflect it, that would be cool. The odds are against us though.
 
cyclone3d said:
SAILS..... bulk sales of mylar will do nothing to help.
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This is very true, but sometimes mistakes lead to interesting conclusions. The people who make the Mylar will enjoy the bulk sales from the people who think giant sails of Mylar will save us!

The more likely world ending scenario goes along the lines of... good ol' Murica figures out a way deflect asteroids, realizes it can deflect an all out nuclear firestorm as well as asteroids, then proceeds to "Liberate" the rest of the world through use of nuclear force. After which a comet smashes into the north American continent obliterating the rest of the world that hasn't already been destroyed by nuclear devastation.

In some ways people like Elon Musk are correct in saying that in order for humanity to survive we must take to the stars. Nothing is for certain, but 100 smaller cockroach nests are a whole lot harder to get rid of than a single giant one.
 
BSmith said:
Sure they do and have you met people? Last time an asteroid came within .25 billion miles of Earth, my neighborhood went into pani mode.

"What if it turns this way??!?"
"The radiation in the wake will be enough to kill us if it misses us!"
"The tides are going to be all over the place. We are not far enough inland to avoid the tsunami it will cause!"
"I bet it is the Russians doing this!"
"This is probably just the warning shot. They are out there."
"We should have never launched those probes showing where we are located!"
"It is going it wipe out every satellite around the planet!"
"We should hit it with an EMP pulse and disable it!"

You get the idea. Yes, there were more. I mean,...damn... A little knowledge is dangerous.
Click to expand...


Jeez. Please let me know where you live so I can never go there.
 
thats the plan in public.

but the real plan is..... build an expensive spacecraft funded by all the rich elites, (only the rich and politically connected and essential personnel) then escape to mars. go watch 2012 (movie) and salvation (tv series).

 
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