Asteroid has 1 in 45 chance to hit Earth April 13, 2029

[storealex]

We should detonate a nuke in space just for the heck of it, and to see what happened.

 

[Mise]

Holy crap guys! April 13th 2029 is a FRIDAY!!!

This surely signifies the end of the world. Bugger.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

I'm getting unconfirmed reports that this would hit somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere.

 

[Yom]

I'm getting unconfirmed reports that this would hit somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Hopefully we won't have to worry about that. We're more than capable of dealing with it before it gets close enough to touch us. 25 years is plenty of preparatory time.

 

[emzie]

Even a tiny nudge is enough over the millions of miles of course it takes.

Yes. Fireing a lazer at it, heating one side up, would be enough to move it five feet. Over millions of miles, the path would change by thousands. There's no need for a nuke. A nuke would be cool though.

 

[Winner]

This one is very small, so it doesn't possess much threat. No Deep Impact, pity

 

[Shadylookin]

I like those odds. Now I just need to find a bookie.

 

[BasketCase]

Yes. Fireing a lazer at it, heating one side up, would be enough to move it five feet. Over millions of miles, the path would change by thousands. There's no need for a nuke. A nuke would be cool though.

Okay, this is something where we need to do some actual field experiments to find out. I find myself wondering whether changing an asteroid's path by "thousands" of feet would be enough, considering that Earth's gravity will be trying to produce the opposite effect.

The theories look good on paper, but would they REALLY work....?

 

[North King]

Okay, this is something where we need to do some actual field experiments to find out. I find myself wondering whether changing an asteroid's path by "thousands" of feet would be enough, considering that Earth's gravity will be trying to produce the opposite effect.

The theories look good on paper, but would they REALLY work....?

Actually, thousands of feet is an understatment. A nudge out near the asteroid belt at an asteroid heading at Earth of only a few feet likely will mean it misses Earth entirely. The gravity can easily be factored in in computer models.

 

[Damnyankee]

This one is very small, so it doesn't possess much threat. No Deep Impact, pity

I read it is heading for Brno, Czech Republic

 

[Winner]

I read it is heading for Brno, Czech Republic

Damn, we must use our nukes we had against Prague to destroy it

 

[Bluemofia]

why don't we let it hit us? pretend we never found it with our crapy 150 people research team using out of date technology to spot them. it will serve as an example that space exploration is important. it will stop killer asteroids ramming toward earth and destroying all. this dosen't suprise me at all because the question is when asteroids will hit not if. stupid governments... never doing good to the public.

 

[Damnyankee]

what would the best crash location be for it? Ocean seems to be the worst, how about the sahara desert?

 

[North King]

what would the best crash location be for it? Ocean seems to be the worst, how about the sahara desert?

That woudl kick up a lot of sand though, and given the wind patterns, we'd see a lot of duststorms in Europe.

Best? Probably some isolated island. No tidal waves, minimal dust concerns to the rest of us. Problem is that's highly unlikely.

 

[Shadylookin]

why don't we let it hit us? pretend we never found it with our crapy 150 people research team using out of date technology to spot them. it will serve as an example that space exploration is important. it will stop killer asteroids ramming toward earth and destroying all. this dosen't suprise me at all because the question is when asteroids will hit not if. stupid governments... never doing good to the public.

I would not call any team that found something that could devestate the earth(or a nice chunk of it anyways) and gave us a long enough warning time to stop it crappy. Besides you don't really need up to date microscope technology when it comes to things inside our solar system.

 

[Gogf]

Not sure.

I remember seeing a TV show where they talked about the worst case scenario for something like this was over one of Russia's huge forests. It would catch the whole thing on fire and make enough smoke to block out the sun.

Anyway, if it really becomes a danger, I'm sure we'll find some way to hit it with a nuclear weapon to change its path.

 

[Shadylookin]

what would the best crash location be for it? Ocean seems to be the worst, how about the sahara desert?

how about not on planet earth, that would be the best scenario.

 

[ybbor]

it would be an interesting step toward world unity, all nations working together for the good of all humanity... holy crap ! if this thing is supposed to hit there's no chance we can stop it!

EDIT: what would be interesting is if it ended up hitting the moon instead

 

[Pellaken]

you know, its occured to me.

so many people think about a giant asteroid hitting this planet, we keep imagining that it'll happen, that in the end humans will collectivly will the rock right into the planet.

 

[Specialist290]

Best? Probably some isolated island.

Nice to know that having a huge rock crash down on me is the "best" impact option

Anyway, as to whether or not it will hit, that's best left to the future. Whether or not it's a real threat is a distinct possibility to be considered.