Defending the Earth from meteors using lasers

[mfb]

Making multiple pieces needs more energy than deflecting it in a safe way, might need a follow-up mission for fragments still hitting Earth, and it is less controllable.

 

[nikkkom]

Tracking 1000 fragments is actually not that hard, computationally speaking it's piece of cake for todays' computers.

 

[mfb]

It is not about tracking. If you randomly blow up something you don't know where the pieces will go to in advance. Afterwards you have to identify all and then do something against those too large and still on a collision course.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I don't see the advantage of taking one body that's going where you don't want it and replacing it with 1000 smaller bodies that are going where you don't want them.

 

[nikkkom]

I don't see the advantage of taking one body that's going where you don't want it and replacing it with 1000 smaller bodies that are going where you don't want them.

Not all 1000 pieces are going to hit Earth.
I do see a very large difference between a continent-buster and a city-buster or three.

 

[nico nico nii]

I don't see the advantage of taking one body that's going where you don't want it and replacing it with 1000 smaller bodies that are going where you don't want them.

I don't think 1000 small pieces can get through the atmosphere without burning out itself. While there may be some parts that get through the

I don't see the advantage of taking one body that's going where you don't want it and replacing it with 1000 smaller bodies that are going where you don't want them.

I don't think 1000 small pieces can get through the atmosphere without burning out itself. While there may be some parts that get through the atmosphere, they shouldn't be THAT big.

 

[nikkkom]

He's talking about a situation when a 1km object separates into about a thousand 100 meter objects. A 100m rock would be only slightly slowed by the atmosphere if it does not break up. If it does break up, it'll be a seriously big airburst. However you slice it, 100m object is going to cause significant destruction.

 

[Dovla]

Perhaps it's better to let some smaller pieces impact the Earth. We can study them, we might find something that we don't know and study it.

 

[mfb]

We can study them better in space. There is no need to risk whole cities for having them impact Earth.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Perhaps it's better to let some smaller pieces impact the Earth. We can study them, we might find something that we don't know and study it.

By that logic, we should take asteroids that are near misses and try and deflect them towards the earth.