Asteroid Apophis Could Hit Earth in 2068

[JEDI]

Asteroid Apophis Could Still Hit Earth in 2068, New Study Suggests

Only a small handful of objects are known to pose a serious threat to Earth, and the gigantic asteroid Apophis is one of them. Scientists are now re-evaluating its potential to strike our planet in 48 years.

gizmodo.com

The Goa'uld will have their revenge

 

[pmv]

I really don't want to have to wait that long.

 

[dasherHampton]

Bruce Willis will be gone by then.....

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

2068? Christ thats long enough that I can honestly feel confident that we can do something by then.

 

[dasherHampton]

Yeah, you'd think that in the next 20-40 years they could send robots up there to build powerful rocket towers. They'd blast 24/7 until they jostle it just enough out of its trajectory towards earth.

Or something.

 

[Captante]

I strongly suspect I will have been fertilizing the daisies for awhile by the time this becomes an issue. (would be 104 years old lol)

 

[BoomerD]

I strongly suspect I will have been fertilizing the daisies for awhile by the time this becomes an issue. (would be 104 years old lol)

Yeah, I'm sure I'll be long dead by then...so, PARTY TIME!

 

[Exterous]

Yeah, you'd think that in the next 20-40 years they could send robots up there to build powerful rocket towers. They'd blast 24/7 until they jostle it just enough out of its trajectory towards earth.

Or something.

Or the planet will be a desolate nuclear wasteland when it hits

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Bruce Willis will be gone by then.....

I'll be gone by then.

 

[sdifox]

It's ok. The Moon Nazis will blast it.

 

[TXHokie]

Too late. We'd nuked ourselves by then.

 

[SKORPI0]

99942 Apophis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yarkovsky effect - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GrumpyMan]

If we can land on one and get samples to study, surely we can land a nuclear device on it to at least make it smaller?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

If we can land on one and get samples to study, surely we can land a nuclear device on it to at least make it smaller?

is it better to be shot by a rifle or a shotgun? Because we would be turning it into a shotgun blast.

 

[Muse]

Current estimate I read is 1/150,000 chance. Of course, it's possible they don't know WTF they're talking about. More to the point, they may not know exactly everything that could influence the trajectory of the asteroid. The perturbations they are considering are due to radiation. Maybe they don't sufficiently understand them. Still the chance they're coming up with is non-zero, so it's possible. Now, fact is there are going to be asteroids hitting the earth occasionally. Rarely, but occasionally. Tens of thousands of years apart for the bigger ones. Now this one is really big at 300 meters in diameter. I imagine the velocity of impact would be pretty huge, so it would cause huge damage, maybe a very very long winter, many years, that would kill off a lot of species, maybe us.

 

[Muse]

is it better to be shot by a rifle or a shotgun? Because we would be turning it into a shotgun blast.

Maybe if blasted far enough away a lot of it would miss us, i.e. if shattered by a massive thermonuclear blast.

 

[skyking]

I strongly suspect I will have been fertilizing the daisies for awhile by the time this becomes an issue. (would be 104 years old lol)

108 for me. Long gone the way I live

 

[Captante]

108 for me. Long gone the way I live

Amen brother!

 

[GrumpyMan]

is it better to be shot by a rifle or a shotgun? Because we would be turning it into a shotgun blast.

Correct, you wouldn't want that. But assuming that astroid would pass once again close to earth before coming back to actually hit us on a future trajectory. If that is the case (I have no idea if it will), then I would land a nuke on it and detonate as it passes by Earth, to make sure that shotgun effect would occur after it passes by and clears the Earth and not before. Otherwise you are correct it would be worse.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Finally!

 

[Pacfanweb]

is it better to be shot by a rifle or a shotgun? Because we would be turning it into a shotgun blast.

Shotgun in this case, because most of the "pellets" would burn up in the atmosphere.

 

[Pacfanweb]

108 for me. Long gone the way I live

I'd be 103 and at that point....do we even care? I'd only care because of my kids and their kids and all other young people, but for myself at that point....meh. Just kill me quickly, I don't want to limp away from it.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, you'd think that in the next 20-40 years they could send robots up there to build powerful rocket towers. They'd blast 24/7 until they jostle it just enough out of its trajectory towards earth.

Or something.

now that we can send a probe millions or whatever lightyears away to hover over a stellar rock and hoover up some debris within a few mm of the target, I'm confident in imaging that yes, we can pretty effectively send up a ~10lb lead ball that is designed to affix itself to some specific anti-distal side of the asteroid such that the added weight, over the next 30 or whatever years, will redirect that fat bastard off into Neptune (b/c seriously: fuck Neptune).

(or you know, one of those negative energy fart rockets, the size of a jar of mayonnaise, to affix itself onto one side and just fart out a couple of farts and redirect it--again, one would hope towards Neptune)

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'll be 82, so probably ready to hit the grave anyway, bring it on! Actually global warming will have probably destroyed the planet by then. There is too much climate change denialism and even green energy denialism going on, I'm not confident we will fix the issue on time.

 

[Mai72]

I strongly suspect I will have been fertilizing the daisies for awhile by the time this becomes an issue. (would be 104 years old lol)

brah. 104 will be the new 80.

Restrict your calories to only 500 a day. Eat only dark green veggies, and drink wheat grass.