Wait...wut??!?!?? NASA slamming rocket into asteroid

[Nevilledog]

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The Associated Press
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In the first-of-its kind experiment, NASA is about to clobber a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away to change its path slightly.

If successful, the test will show that if a killer asteroid ever heads for Earth, there'd be a fighting chance.


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7:23 AM · Sep 22, 2022

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Yes, and I understand they are going to try to stream it.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. Either a total waste of money or we should be scared

If a world killer asteroid was on the way, I seriously doubt there’s anything we could do about it.

[JHB]

6. Neither. These are the baby steps to figuring out how we might deal with that...

...if the situation arises.

Which it eventually will, but nobody knows if it'll be next year or a million. But, better to have some prep, just in case.

[3Hotdogs]

14. I disagree. Bumping an astroid should cause it to change orbit.

Or, there might even be a way to push one onto a different trajectory.

[JHB]

17. There are several, the effectiveness of which depend on its size and time they have to work

There are a number of low-thrust technologies (ion engines, solar sails) that, with enough time to make a meaningful impact, could be used to shift the orbit of an object to one that doesn't intersect with the Earth's. But right now those are theoretical, and we need data to work them up as a practical method, which is part of the current mission's objective.

[mitch96]

18. #2 asteroid in the left pocket...😁...nt

[Solly Mack]

3. :)

Cool.

And, too easy. (the jokes, not the experiment)

[underpants]

4. Willis and Affleck used to take care of this sort too thing.

No more I guess.

[Bayard]

8. Great minds and all that

First thing I thought of--call these guys!

[getagrip_already]

5. hitting a bullet with another bullet while riding upside down on horseback.....

Blindfolded.

Easy peazy.

[Pantagruel]

7. https://b612foundation.org/

[Lovie777]

10. Isn't that something .....

I'm watching "Love and Monsters" on Paramount + -

Earth targeted a meteor that was bound to hit earth with tons of rockets which destroyed it but the fall out of the rockets fell back to earth which caused mutations to the animals, insects and fishes which in-turned caused them to love human flesh and only 5% of the human population has survived.

[doc03]

11. Humm, could they know something they aren't telling us about.

[yellowcanine]

12. Wait, have they considered the "butterfly effect"? What if it causes an asteroid hurricane??????

Someone needs to ask these questions before we start slamming "small" asteroids and shit.

[Jaydog]

13. Hopefully

we don't knock it into a collision course with Earth.

[Wounded Bear]

15. Presumably, that was included in their initial calculations...

I hope.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Won't someone think of the Clangers???

A loving tribute to their creator:

Oh my god, the reboot is narrated, on American TV, by William Shatner? No, just no. Go to 3:27 in the video above to show how it should be done. The British version of the reboot had Michael Palin, which is acceptable.

[TheProle]

19. An absolutely worthy exercise.

[madinmaryland]

20. Don't look up! Or maybe I will.

[Angleae]

21. First the bomb the moon, now they're bombing asteroids.

Next up, bomb Uranus.