Will crashing into an asteroid work?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Science News // 9 hours ago
NASA plans crashing spacecraft into asteroid to study Earth-impact defense
Nov. 5 (UPI) -- NASA plans to launch the DART spacecraft as early as Nov. 24 to crash it into an asteroid next year so scientists can try to understand how to redirect space objects away from potential catastrophic Earth collisions.



Effective deflection or wasted effort?

 

[SaltyNuts]

Its physics dude, of course it will work, if they've done their physical calculations correct.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Its physics dude, of course it will work, if they've done their physical calculations correct.

This. It 'works' in the sense that physics works.

 

[jpiniero]

Not sending in Bruce Willis to drill holes and plant nukes?

 

[BudAshes]

Not sending in Bruce Willis to drill holes and plant nukes?

Well that is obviously plan A.

 

[Muse]

Seems to me that the uncertainty comes from not knowing the result of an impact, exactly how much of an asteroid is shattered and scattered by an impact and how, what directions and velocities. I'd think it depends on the asteroid to some degree and where the impact happens.

 

[Captante]

Will crashing into an asteroid work?

That depends on what you use to "deflect" it!

I doubt you personally have sufficient mass to get the job done but then we've never met IRL so I can't rule it out as remotely possible!

 

[MrSquished]

Asteroid Lives Matter

 

[sdifox]

Just send Saitama

 

[Muse]

Just send Saitama

For Godzilla no problem.

 

[Captante]

For Godzilla no problem.

 

[SKORPI0]

How to deflect an asteroid

How to deflect an asteroid: MIT engineers have devised a decision map to identify best mission type to deflect an incoming asteroid.

news.mit.edu

 

[skyking]

If it was not for the pesky rotation, landing a solar engine on it and slowly giving it a push would be less energy intensive. It gets too complicated, but some sort of booster that timed the pulses to send it off course would be elegant.

 

[Fenixgoon]

from conservation of momentum, in large mass/small mass problem, you essentially ignore the small mass. i think it's pretty safe to say NASA has done its math correctly, so i don't doubt it will work, but i expect there to be some interesting results of "hey, we didn't expect X to happen"

 

[skyking]

I'm sure they know the math better than I, but my Rube Goldberg thruster, pushing on said object for 7 years sounds more, Fun?

 

[Red Squirrel]

My train of thought is it can't work as it would be equivalent to trying to stop a 747 with a bullet except an astroid does not require working engines to keep going.

From my understanding you can't just fly straight to something. Everything is in some form of orbit, so you need to actually match it's orbit, then rendez vous with it. I imagine this is hard to do with something coming straight for us though I guess you can form an orbit but going the opposite way and do a head on collision. Now assuming you can get a craft to land on it instead of crashing in it, then you can probably just redirect it. I suppose you can also hit it on the side just right and throw it into a ludicrous speed spin where it disintegrates?

NASA knows more than me so I'll take their word for it whatever their plan is though.

 

[Captante]

If it was not for the pesky rotation, landing a solar engine on it and slowly giving it a push would be less energy intensive. It gets too complicated

From my understanding you can't just fly straight to something.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Sorry, but I keep getting that bug/windshield image.

 

[sportage]

What???
No one interested in the asteroid that was on its way to destroy downtown Manhattan, however no more since NASA scientist have now crashed into the asteroid thus deflecting it away to where it will now hit some third world country full of poor people of color?
Wasn't there a movie about this?

You all know that this wasn't a test. The rock was actually heading for the earth, downtown Manhattan to be exact, and NASA ever so lightly deflected to one of those shit-hole countries instead. Awww technology in 2022.