Incoming Asteroids and How to Deal with Them

An interesting conversation w a friend of mine turned to the likelihood of an asteroid hit at some point in the future. What we were talking about was the larger - world altering asteroids - say, one the size of New Jersey slamming into Earth.

What are we to do when this happens? Yes, I said when! This is NOT an if scenario - it is reality - it WILL happen at some time. If folks are so unconcerned about this - may I remind them that this DID happen about 65 million years ago - killing off the dinosaurs. It happened before that time, as well. Granted, we are still unsure about whether it was an asteroid or a comet - but the situation is almost the same and the outcome certainly is.

So, whether we're talking about a giant dirty snowball from hell - or a giant rock made of iron, quartz, or carbon - the end point is still the same - WIPEOUT. This is for those greedy bastards out there more concerned about their wallets and their little fantasy world that they prefer to live in - like the jackasses who so kindly helped evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. Rules and laws are all very well - but they are there to protect people - NOT make it necessary for thousands of people to die - just for some politicians' laziness. And if I hear another religious nutter out there saying that God punished those poor folks for their sins - then I'll let them sit while a hurricane hits their sorry asses. Who died and made them God, anyway?!

OK, so what do we do about this situation when it becomes a reality? Well, how many nukes do we have? Yeah, yeah, I know they exist for one reason and one reason only - to kill our fellow humans with. My friend pointed this out by mentioning that all nukes on the planet are set to hit locations on this planet - not to go flying out into space to hit asteroids and comets. We need to alter their trajectories. It would also be nice to be able to make course corrections after launch if need be.

How exactly would this work? Well, it all depends on what is heading for Earth in the first place. If it is a comet - hitting it enough times to break it up into smaller fragments that will just burn up in the atmosphere - like a regular meteor shower.

With asteroids - this would be different. Iron and carbon asteroids would be a worse case scenario - because breaking them up would be realistically impossible. It would not matter how many nukes you hit it w directly - it won't be destroyed. Even silicate [quartz] meteorites might not break up w nukes - not into small enough fragments fast enough to avert catastrophe. It would be like trying to break a giant marble. Imagine a giant marble the size of New Jersey! By the time we see one of these puppies coming - we will not have years to break it up. Months maybe - if we are lucky. Weeks to days, more likely! Oh, and for those thinking that we could deal w a carbon asteroid - think again. Carbon asteroids are not just big charcoal brickettes - they're giant black diamonds. Think about it, folks - think real hard!

In the event that it is an asteroid - we will only have one course of action to take. The best way to deal w asteroids intent on crash landing in our back yard is to change their trajectory. If we can't move us out of its way - BAD IDEA even if we could do such a thing - then we have to MOVE THE ASTEROID so that it passes by without wreaking havoc on our home turf - we are the only ones allowed to do THAT. Anything we send to head off an asteroid would have to be done in such a way as to hit it from one side, so that its orbit is changed - enough to keep it from hitting Earth.

And we won't have time to take it up w Congress and the committees. Congress would have to ACT IMMEDIATELY! They'd likely say we can't afford to do this - then everyone dies because of their stupidity. We might want to think about educating those folks we put in office. It's apparent that their education is sorrowfully lacking - especially in common sense. Maybe the first order of business would be to force them all to take a good logic class - since that is where they need the most help. Common sense is definitely not every politician's strong suit - unfortunately for the rest of us who have to suffer for their lack. I am not speaking about all politicians - since there are a few - albeit only a few - who have enough upstairs to do what needs doing the right way when things like this come up. Unfortunately, they are in the minority - and I am not talking about majority/minority as in democrat/republican here. There are logical and intelligent guys and gals on Capitol Hill on both sides of the political divide - just not all that many compared to the ones who refuse outright to use the braincells they were born with.

With that being said, I will sign off...until next time...