1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

Armageddon and Deep Impact for real

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Beren, Aug 21, 2011.

  1. Beren

    Beren Lovesick and Lonely Wanderer Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2002
    Messages:
    3,852
    Media:
    951
    Likes Received:
    217
    Gender:
    Male
  2. Rotku

    Rotku I believe I can fly Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2003
    Messages:
    3,105
    Likes Received:
    35
    Very fitting name for the mission. Don Quijote.

    Will be interested in seeing how this turns out - I'll have to keep my eyes open come 2015.
     
  3. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

    Joined:
    May 15, 2003
    Messages:
    12,434
    Media:
    46
    Likes Received:
    249
    Gender:
    Male
    I've heard about ideas like this before - redirecting an asteroid that is. However, I was unaware that anyone was planning on testing this. As for how practical such a scenario is, it would seem like that would depend on what exactly we're talking about (assuming the test works in the first place).

    First and foremost, it would seem like the size of the asteroid would be important. With the asteroid they're talking about here, it's about 1/3 of a mile long, and that can definitely do a ton of damage. I'm no expert on this, but my understanding is that an asteroid when it hits the earth leaves a crater several orders of magnitude larger than it's actual size. That big ass crater in Flagstaff, Arizona, was caused by an asteroid about the size of a house. Still, a 1/3 of a mile long asteroid is small potatoes compared to asteroids we know exist that are several times that size. It seems that the laws of physics would dictate that the bigger the asteroid, the harder it would be to move it.

    Secondly, you'd need a lot of lead time to pull this off. Something like this takes several months, if not a couple of years to prepare, so we'd have to know something is coming long before it were to actually strike. (Also, it would make sense that the earlier you would intercept such an asteroid, the less you'd have to move it to make it miss the Earth.)
     
  4. Shoshino

    Shoshino Irritant Veteran

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2001
    Messages:
    2,086
    Media:
    66
    Likes Received:
    79
    Gender:
    Male
    Why are they experimenting with an asteroid that has a chance of hitting the earth? what if their experiment drasticlally fails ant places the rock on a course for the earth?
     
  5. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

    Joined:
    May 15, 2003
    Messages:
    12,434
    Media:
    46
    Likes Received:
    249
    Gender:
    Male
    I assume they're going to try to move it in a direction that would lessen it's chance of hitting the earth, but increase it. But wouldn't that statement also apply to an asteroid that presently has NO chance of hitting the earth? If you change it's trajectory, you can turn an asteroid that once had no chance of hitting us into something that would have a chance of hitting us. It would be an epic fail to be sure, but it theoretically could happen.
     
  6. Late-Night Thinker Gems: 17/31
    Latest gem: Star Diopside


    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2003
    Messages:
    991
    Likes Received:
    2
    I think I remember reading somewhere that any asteroid larger than about 1000 feet in diameter is a world destroyer (in the civilization sense). Another important factor is the angle at which it strikes the unsuspecting planet. Most scientist recommend the continuous use of protective headgear--which can readily be fashioned by good ol' tin foil, easily enough.
     
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.