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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Look out! An asteroid!
Look out! An asteroid!
2004-12-25, 7:55 PM #1
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_risk_041224.html

It would make for a better action movie, though, if it was absolutely certain to hit the earth, and would do so in a few months instead of 25 years. Then they could send up some oil drillers to plant a nuke and blow it up, and one of them could heroically sacrifice himself at the end, in order to save the planet... but NASA seems to be able to make everything boring. Oh, there's an asteroid about to hit the earth. YAWN.
Stuff
2004-12-25, 7:58 PM #2
Yeah, I saw it on Slashdot. Interesting, but I'm not too worried about it. It has a 97.8% chance of missing as it stands, and it's not due until 2029. A lot of things can change in that time.
Marsz, marsz, Dąbrowski,
Z ziemi włoskiej do Polski,
Za twoim przewodem
Złączym się z narodem.
2004-12-25, 8:20 PM #3
OMG we need Bruce Willis!
2004-12-25, 8:21 PM #4
Sending a nuke to hit the asteroid won't make a great impact.
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2004-12-25, 8:48 PM #5
By the time it does hit, if its going to, we'll most likely have highly destructive weapons capable of deflecting if not destroying it. Like Naquadah and Naquadria bombs.
"Whats that for?" "Thats the machine that goes 'ping'" PING!
Q. How many testers does it take to change a light bulb?
A. We just noticed the room was dark; we don't actually fix the problems.
MCMF forever.
2004-12-25, 9:08 PM #6
Or at least a Goa'uld transport ship that can use it's hyperdrive to warp through the planet and out the other side.
Stuff
2004-12-25, 9:09 PM #7
We wouldn't need to hurt it, just send it off course a tiny bit. A nuke or even less would probably do that.
2004-12-25, 9:13 PM #8
Quote:
Originally posted by Obi_Kwiet
We wouldn't need to hurt it, just send it off course a tiny bit. A nuke or even less would probably do that.
Sure. We'll send you up there with one when the time comes.
2004-12-25, 10:09 PM #9
Quote:
Originally posted by Omicron88
Sure. We'll send you up there with one when the time comes.


Seconded.
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2004-12-25, 10:14 PM #10
Quote:
Originally posted by Obi_Kwiet
We wouldn't need to hurt it, just send it off course a tiny bit. A nuke or even less would probably do that.


I see somebody slept through physics class
>>untie shoes
2004-12-25, 10:57 PM #11
He's right... any blast big enough to cause a minor course change (at the correct distance from earth) would be enough to prevent a collision... a nuke could technically do this (i haven't looked @ the mass o' this asteroid yet so i'm unsure)... all it has to do is change its trajectory by half a degree at some number of miles, and that'll make all the difference (CAN, COULD, MIGHT)
2004-12-25, 11:42 PM #12
Damn, people.. an object the size of a golf ball striking it would cause it to miss the earth by millions of miles. We're talking 25 years here.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2004-12-26, 5:59 PM #13
Fore!
Hey, Blue? I'm loving the things you do. From the very first time, the fight you fight for will always be mine.
2004-12-26, 7:48 PM #14
I hope it hits so I don't have to die a debilitating cancerous death.

Go flaming death!
Hazard a company one process.
2004-12-26, 7:54 PM #15
Interesting theory...
2004-12-26, 8:19 PM #16
I want an Asteroid to hit Majora's Mask style. Where we can see it coming for like.. 3 days. And it'll have a mean face on it.
That painting was a gift, Todd. I'm taking it with me.
2004-12-26, 8:59 PM #17
I hope it's like the asteroid from FF7 and the music of the world map changes as it approches...

<.<
>.>

What?
2004-12-27, 6:18 AM #18
Quote:
Originally posted by Obi_Kwiet
We wouldn't need to hurt it, just send it off course a tiny bit. A nuke or even less would probably do that.


Oh yay, so instead of a massive asteriod coming to doom us all, we'll have a massive RADIOACTIVE asteriod to doom us all. Anyone else see a problem with this?
2004-12-27, 7:14 AM #19
I see a problem with getting a nuke onto an asteroid we won't even see until a few hours before it hits us because it's coming head-on, not to mention the fact that it's moving at several hundred mps.
2004-12-27, 7:51 AM #20
cool, i hope it hits
2004-12-27, 8:08 AM #21
I tried to submit it to fark with the headline:

"2.2% chance we're all going to die via asteroid in 2029; Mayans double-check their arithmetic."
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2004-12-27, 9:22 AM #22
There is now a 1 in 45 chance that it will hit earth.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_risk_041224.html
2004-12-27, 9:27 AM #23
Quote:
Originally posted by Cool Matty
Oh yay, so instead of a massive asteriod coming to doom us all, we'll have a massive RADIOACTIVE asteriod to doom us all. Anyone else see a problem with this?


Well, the asteroid is most likely already far more radioactive than anything we could do to it. Our atmosphere does do a good job of filtering out radioactivity so if it does slam into the Earth maybe the air will clean it up first! However, since this thing is already probably going to miss us an attempt to knock it off its course may actually be a bad idea.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2004-12-27, 9:30 AM #24
Quote:
Originally posted by DSettahr
There is now a 1 in 45 chance that it will hit earth.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_risk_041224.html


hmm, let's see. 1 divided by 45 equals ... yup 2.2%

:p
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2004-12-27, 10:27 AM #25
Quote:
Originally posted by Wookie06
Well, the asteroid is most likely already far more radioactive than anything we could do to it. Our atmosphere does do a good job of filtering out radioactivity so if it does slam into the Earth maybe the air will clean it up first! However, since this thing is already probably going to miss us an attempt to knock it off its course may actually be a bad idea.


The atmosphere doesnt do that, the earth's magnetic field does. And you're thinking of electromagnetic radiation, which is different than nuclear radiation.
2004-12-27, 12:40 PM #26
Glad to hear we can quit worrying about ozone depletion now. However, you must have sensed some sarcasm in that quoted post I hope.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2004-12-27, 1:09 PM #27
And guys, really, if you read the article it says that it's only a quarter mile wide and not large enough to do damage on a global scale. It would do moderate to severe regional damage. If the asteroid hits, people will have ample time to evacuate the area.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2004-12-27, 3:20 PM #28
Maybe if we ask it nicely, it wont hit us!
[01:52] <~Nikumubeki> Because it's MBEGGAR BEGS LIKE A BEGONI.
2004-12-27, 3:47 PM #29
I say we dance around a bonfire while chanting and throwing rocks into the air. Tonight.
Little angel go away
Come again some other day
Devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say
2004-12-27, 3:56 PM #30
I've seen this movie. It hits Paris.
VTEC just kicked in, yo!
2004-12-27, 6:40 PM #31
Damn, I guess it isn't going to hit, after all.
Stuff
2004-12-27, 7:07 PM #32
The success of a nuke depends on whether an asteroid is porous (sp?) or not. A porous asteroid would probably just shrug off the blast. What scientists are looking into at the moment is planting a little structure on the surface at least 10 years before a possible impact and rely on solar power to heat a section of the surface to generate a small but constant thrust. Over the course of a decade this thrust would be enough to cause a large enough change in course.
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2004-12-27, 8:33 PM #33
Like I say, it would be much easier to just to send it off course. You'd only have to do it by a tiny bit. That's what they do with ice bergs when they're heading for oil platforms.
2004-12-27, 9:10 PM #34
It's really not that big of an asteroid. They could just evacuate the people who live in the affected area.

Unless its anywhere near where I live. Then you have my permission to nuke the sucka.
former entrepreneur
2004-12-28, 9:31 AM #35
Quote:
Originally posted by Obi_Kwiet
Like I say, it would be much easier to just to send it off course. You'd only have to do it by a tiny bit. That's what they do with ice bergs when they're heading for oil platforms.
They nuke it? Those crazy fishermen.
2004-12-28, 10:53 AM #36
/me glances at his fishing pole.
Hmm... maybe I should pick up Fishing again, afterall...
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