* Astronomy

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Home -> Astronomy News -> All queries go here -> Avoiding Collision / Destroying NEO
Post Info
TOPIC: Avoiding Collision / Destroying NEO
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
RE: Avoiding Collision / Destroying NEO
Permalink  
 

Asteroid attack: putting Earth's defences to the test

It looks inconsequential enough, the faint little spot moving leisurely across the sky. The mountain-top telescope that just detected it is taking it very seriously, though. It is an asteroid, one never seen before. Rapid-survey telescopes discover thousands of asteroids every year, but there's something very particular about this one. The telescope's software decides to wake several human astronomers with a text message they hoped they would never receive. The asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. It is the size of a skyscraper and it's big enough to raze a city to the ground. Oh, and it will be here in three days.
Read more

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Yarkovsky Effect
Permalink  
 

Meanwhile, the Russians have it so under control, they laugh at our fears. I.O. Yarkovsky discovered if you hit the rock with a giant blob of white paint, it will send it spinning off target. The white disrupts the absorption of sunlight on the black surface. (Absorption and reflection of solar energy push it through space, we hope.)
Read more

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Gravity tractor
Permalink  
 

EADS deals with apocalypse now
East of England scientists are ready to build a spacecraft to save the Earth from the apocalyptic consequences of a giant asteroid impact.
Engineers at EADS Astrium in Stevenage have completed early development work on a vessel that would act as a 'gravity tractor' and tow any hazardous near earth objects (NEOs) away from a potentially devastating collision course with the planet.

Read more

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 

A team of British scientists are developing plans for a spacecraft that could stop large asteroids from destroying the Earth.
The 10 tonne "gravity tractor" would deflect any orbiting rocks years before any potential collision could happen.
The device, which would rely on the force of gravity, is being developed by Stevenage space company, EADS Atrium.

Read more

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 

A spacecraft capable of saving the world from a catastrophic asteroid collision has been designed by British space scientists.
A team of British engineers have designed a real-life spacecraft to save the world from destruction.
Their invention, called a "gravity tractor", would be deployed when an orbiting rock is detected on a collision course with Earth.
The spacecraft would intercept the asteroid and position itself to fly alongside it, just 160ft from its surface.
From this position, the 10 tonne craft is able to exert a small gravitational force on the rock, pulling the asteroid towards it.

Read more

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Asteroid Tsunamis
Permalink  
 

Asteroids could cause Tsunamis
Asteroid trackers now have something else to worry about: tsunamis. Computer models from the US Los Alamos National Laboratory show that asteroids landing in the ocean would cause waves so powerful that they would devastate the coastlines of several continents.

Read more 


Massive tsunami sweeps Atlantic Coast in asteroid impact scenario for March 16, 2880
If an asteroid crashes into the Earth, it is likely to splash down somewhere in the oceans that cover 70 percent of the planet's surface. Huge tsunami waves, spreading out from the impact site like the ripples from a rock tossed into a pond, would inundate heavily populated coastal areas. A computer simulation of an asteroid impact tsunami developed by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows waves as high as 400 feet sweeping onto the Atlantic Coast of the United States.
The researchers based their simulation on a real asteroid, 1950 DA, known to be on course for a close encounter with Earth eight centuries from now.

Read more  (May 27, 2003)

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
RE: Avoiding Collision / Destroying NEO
Permalink  
 

The Use of Nuclear Explosives To Disrupt or Divert Asteroids
Neil DeGrasse Tyson - How to Deflect a Killer Asteroid



__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants
Permalink  
 

Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants Given to Three Observers
The space around Earth will be monitored a little more closely for potentially threatening near-Earth objects (NEOs), like asteroids and comets, with the awarding of three new Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants by The Planetary Society.  Bruce Betts, Director of Projects, today announced the winners in Granada, Spain at the 1st IAA Planetary Defence Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids.

Read more 


__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
RE: Avoiding Collision / Destroying NEO
Permalink  
 

A scientist in the US has found an effective way to deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid, by attaching a long tether and ballast to the incoming object.
The theory has been put forward by David French, a doctoral candidate in aerospace engineering at North Carolina (NC) State University, US.

Read more

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 

You may want to thank David French in advance. Because, in the event that a comet or asteroid comes hurtling toward Earth, he may be the guy responsible for saving the entire planet.
French, a doctoral candidate in aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, has determined a way to effectively divert asteroids and other threatening objects from impacting Earth by attaching a long tether and ballast to the incoming object. By attaching the ballast, French explains, "you change the object's center of mass, effectively changing the object's orbit and allowing it to pass by the Earth, rather than impacting it."

Read more

__________________
«First  <  1 2 3 4 5 6 7  >  Last»  | Page of 7  sorted by
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Home -> Astronomy News -> All queries go here -> Avoiding Collision / Destroying NEO


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard