Based on a rather small sample set (comets Borrelly and Hartley-2, and also probably the asteroid Toutatis), it looks like a lot of comets could be contact binaries, or at least potato-shaped. This tells me that the weak point of a comet like that would be the narrow center.
If it should be found that there's a comet on an impact course with Earth, then (like in Armageddon), it should be possible to drill into the center of the narrow part, place an explosive device, and then blow the binary apart. This would obviously put each of the parts into a different orbit, probably (I say that carefully) no longer on an impact course, provided this is done sufficiently well advanced of the predicted impact date.
I think the best approach for longer-term prospects (like asteroids) would be to land a few plasma engines on the surface, turn them on, and gently push the dangerous rock into a different orbit. Again, this requires sufficient lead time. [Unsurprising, others more versed in rocket science agree.]
NEO defenses require global consensus, efforts
For short-term impact warnings, it's hard to tell what could be done at this point. We don't have the technology to get there and turn a potential impactor with months to spare. Part of the prior planning should be to build up a technology base to have the availability of technology that could do the job. I'll have to see if there are reports out of the recent meeting.
If an impactor is discovered only days out, well then, there's going to be big hole somewhere on Earth and we'll have to deal with it somehow.
No comments:
Post a Comment