Nasa Dart System

[RustyBourneHorse]

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/s...ded-altering-asteroids-trajectory-2022-10-11/

Just thought I'd share this. NASA claims to have been successfully able to alter the trajectory of an asteroid.

"The spacecraft NASA deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet from its natural path into a faster orbit, marking the first time humanity has altered the motion of a celestial body, the U.S. space agency announced on Tuesday.

The $330 million proof-of-concept mission, which was seven years in development, also represented the world's first test of a planetary defense system designed to prevent a potential doomsday meteorite collision with Earth."

So yes, I think this is a fascinating development.

 

[Runwildboys]

It really doesn't take much of a push, if you're very far away. The only problem is we can't see everything before it gets too close to give us time enough to prepare a rocket, figure out the trajectory, wait for a launch window, and get it there.

But it's a good first step!

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

It really doesn't take much of a push, if you're very far away. The only problem is we can't see everything before it gets too close to give us time enough to prepare a rocket, figure out the trajectory, wait for a launch window, and get it there.

But it's a good first step!

Exactly. I'm sure they'll improve it going forward, but it's a good first step. Now they need to work on something if it gets a bit closer. There's apparently an asteroid that has a high chance of hitting in 2027 (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Th...t=At this early stage, with,about 1 in 50 000.). I suspect that was why they were testing the DART System. They'll need to get on that if they are correct about that asteroid.

 

[DasTex]

Exactly. I'm sure they'll improve it going forward, but it's a good first step. Now they need to work on something if it gets a bit closer. There's apparently an asteroid that has a high chance of hitting in 2027 (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/The_day_the_asteroid_might_hit#:~:text=At this early stage, with,about 1 in 50 000.). I suspect that was why they were testing the DART System. They'll need to get on that if they are correct about that asteroid.

Interesting, I don't recall seeing this before.
Chances changed from 1/50000 to 1/100

That will likely be during the draft....hopefully it can hold off till after

 

[terra]

This has been bandied about for decades. Kind of amusing needing a third of a billion dollars to prove that you can change the trajectory of a rock by hitting it with another rock.

Having worked with NASA some years ago on ORION, I am massively unimpressed with NASA as a whole.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Interesting, I don't recall seeing this before.
Chances changed from 1/50000 to 1/100

That will likely be during the draft....hopefully it can hold off till after

Or hopefully it can be deflected, God-willing.

 

[nobody]

Exactly. I'm sure they'll improve it going forward, but it's a good first step. Now they need to work on something if it gets a bit closer. There's apparently an asteroid that has a high chance of hitting in 2027 (https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/The_day_the_asteroid_might_hit#:~:text=At this early stage, with,about 1 in 50 000.). I suspect that was why they were testing the DART System. They'll need to get on that if they are correct about that asteroid.

Dude, that's 2019 PDC which is a fictional (hypothetical) asteroid impactor for the Planetary Defense Conference exercise.

 

[SlammedZero]

Some other planet in our galaxy with intelligent life will see this asteroid coming, "weird, according to our first projections this was suppose to miss us! What could have happened?!".

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Dude, that's 2019 PDC which is a fictional (hypothetical) asteroid impactor for the Planetary Defense Conference exercise.

What about 2017 PDC? That's what I thought I saw.

 

[dsturgeon]

" What could have happened?!".

They saw an opportunity to account for 330 million disappearing

It was easier than the 2.3 trillion coverup that was done

 

[nobody]

What about 2017 PDC? That's what I thought I saw.

PDC stands for Planetary Defense Conference...which means yeah...it's one of their fictional ones.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

Asteroids orbit the sun and come a little bit closer with every orbit. Which means an astroid as far away as the moon, would still take about two years to hit us. Some were worried about the 99942 Apophis astroid in 2004. It had a trajectory that placed it in the NEO class. But it is slated to pass us in 2029. That's a 25 years notice, so I don't think any asteroids will be sneaking up on us.

Seeing them and deflecting them is not hard at all. But we'd catch hell if we actually had to destroy one.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

PDC stands for Planetary Defense Conference...which means yeah...it's one of their fictional ones.

Oh, I didn't know that. I'd been reading about those two, but I didn't realise the asteroids don't actually exist.

 

[Runwildboys]

Asteroids orbit the sun and come a little bit closer with every orbit. Which means an astroid as far away as the moon, would still take about two years to hit us. Some were worried about the 99942 Apophis astroid in 2004. It had a trajectory that placed it in the NEO class. But it is slated to pass us in 2029. That's a 25 years notice, so I don't think any asteroids will be sneaking up on us.

Seeing them and deflecting them is not hard at all. But we'd catch hell if we actually had to destroy one.

No, their trajectories are dependent on the gravitational pull of many objects, combined with the inertia and original trajectory of the asteroid itself. They don't all get closer to us. Some slingshot around the sun to the other side of the solar system, some end up plunging into the sun, hitting other planets, etc.

Also, our view of space is very small, in comparison to how much of it there is, and it would be very easy for even a planet killer to get close before we ever see it...but I don't worry about that. It's the gamma ray bursts that keep me up at night.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

No, their trajectories are dependent on the gravitational pull of many objects, combined with the inertia and original trajectory of the asteroid itself. They don't all get closer to us. Some slingshot around the sun to the other side of the solar system, some end up plunging into the sun, hitting other planets, etc.

Also, our view of space is very small, in comparison to how much of it there is, and it would be very easy for even a planet killer to get close before we ever see it...but I don't worry about that. It's the gamma ray bursts that keep me up at night.

A little solar flare never hurt anyone. If Mercury can take it, so can we.

 

[Runwildboys]

A little solar flare never hurt anyone. If Mercury can take it, so can we.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst

Oh...I thought you were talking about Stanford University's prediction of a solar flare wiping out all life on Earth. Too much gamma radiation could kill us all either way.

What keeps me up at night is the thought of radiation slowly destroying the Earth's core. What if it's ate a nice size whole in our core. There are no warning signs for something like that. You can't see it coming. If our core implodes just a little bit... we're all dead.

 

[terra]

Oh...I thought you were talking about Stanford University's prediction of a solar flare wiping out all life on Earth. Too much gamma radiation could kill us all either way.

What keeps me up at night is the thought of radiation slowly destroying the Earth's core. What if it's ate a nice size whole in our core. There are no warning signs for something like that. You can't see it coming. If our core implodes just a little bit... we're all dead.

You do know that would take take probably millions of years, right? So if you do let this keep you up at night you need to think about professional help.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

You do know that would take take probably millions of years, right? So if you do let this keep you up at night you need to think about professional help.

Earth is said to be about 4.5 billion years old. Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago. So it's been millions and millions of years already.

 

[Runwildboys]

Oh...I thought you were talking about Stanford University's prediction of a solar flare wiping out all life on Earth. Too much gamma radiation could kill us all either way.

What keeps me up at night is the thought of radiation slowly destroying the Earth's core. What if it's ate a nice size whole in our core. There are no warning signs for something like that. You can't see it coming. If our core implodes just a little bit... we're all dead.

Radiation from what?

The Earth's core is liquid, so I don't see how radiation would eat a hole in it, even if there was some substantial amount of it. Outside the liquid iron core is solid iron, which also would not be eaten away by radiation.

I think you can sleep soundly tonight.