Russia Wants to Launch Armageddon-Style Mission to Deflect Asteroid

A comprimise might be a good call on this one, like pushing/bumping a very small asteroid in our belt first as a sort of proof of concept.

A lot of models have been done on this, like using nuclear explosions to knock it off course. the problem with that is that you have an object in orbit around the sun going thousands of miles per hour, oh did i mention that these objects can be larger than the state of texas. using even multiple nuclear blast would not have much effect on them, unless like in the movie you drill into it, very cliche. but with that you run into many more problems. the only thing we can really do is what has been saving the earth for thousands of years, getting another large body that the astoriod can colliod into. so how do we do that? when astoriods get into a gravity field of jupiter, mars, the moon, anything have a bomb waiting to blast the thing into that body.

Azorus, are you high?

NASA does want to do something about it. They've proposed the MAAT satellite (Measurement and Analysis of Apophis Trajectory), which would match Apophis' orbit and return info on mass and trajectory. Then we'd be able to figure out whether or not we need to intervene.

Admittedly, this isn't nearly as exciting as lobbing a spaceship at it. Especially if it turns out Apophis isn't a threat and we manage to knock it into our path. Uh-oh! Geez, I hate it when we do that.

okay I have to agree that we as a Species should be doing more on this front, but I have to say the Russia's really over hyping this and that fact really makes them lose quite a bit of my respect.

if they just came out and said something like "this would be a great chance to test idea's before it's a real life and death event" it would be comepletely different and would have my respect. but this reminds me of some high school drama queen acting like the world going to end because she broke a nail.

anyway if nothing else this should be a very interesting think tank on space Defense.

Wow, NASA has more important things to worry about like Global Warming. Hasn't Al Gore taught you anything?(BTW, this is sarcasm.)

While I don't know whether or not Azorus is high, he is a little off base with the comment about asteroids being as big as Texas. Ceres, the largest, is less than 600 miles in diameter and smaller than the width of Texas (I suppose surface area and volume might be more than Texas, but I think in Armagedon, they meant the width of Texas - not that science had a lot to do with that movie).

One of the possible missions for NASA's Constellation program would be an approach and possible landing on an asteroid, so I suppose they could test out placing an ion thruster on an asteroid while visiting it. That would be a safer and more gradual method of altering the asteroid's path, though you'd have to take into account its spin.

As for the last comment, ESA will be launching its Cryosat in February to study the decline of sea ice, and Russia will be sending up an environment-monitoring satellite in spring. I guess Al Gore might have taught them something. At least some folks are learning.

I think we should be worrying more about Manbearpig. He's a real menace, and Al Gore knows it.

p,s. all the more reason to become a multiple planet species, so if our homeworld is destroyed, then the human race survives.

No, i am not high. go have another cookie. my comment was just to present another idea.

Anyone else thing the spaceship in the picture looks a lot like the one from ABC's "Defying Gravity" show LOL!

True, NASA has enough to worry about, but I'm gonna have to agree with the Russians on this one. Better be safe than sorry. Murphy's law and all that junk. And as someone mentioned before, with NASA's limited funding, this anti-Armageddon project should be a multinational endeavor.

If I was going to test a really, really, really...wait for it....really big nuclear device, I'd do it next to an asteroid tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of miles from earth. Something says they are looking for either the perfect excuse to blow something up and show the world how powerful they think they are or they are...umm...nuts.

As for us trying to defend ourselves against an asteroid, reading the news lately and witnessing the idiocy of holiday shopping, maybe a clean slate wouldn't be a bad idea.

HOORAY!!!! The Russians will save us just like the saved the Soviet uni-....oh right

As for us trying to defend ourselves against an asteroid, reading the news lately and witnessing the idiocy of holiday shopping, maybe a clean slate wouldn't be a bad idea.
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Best comment EVER. LMAO. Thanks, I needed that.