DISASTER Why Is NASA Working So Hard To Learn How To Defend The Earth From Giant Asteroids?

jward

passin' thru
Why Is NASA Working So Hard To Learn How To Defend The Earth From Giant Asteroids?
by Tyler Durden

7-9 minutes


Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
Did you know that NASA is going to send a spacecraft on a suicide mission in an attempt to change the trajectory of a massive space rock? The good news is that the space rock that NASA will be crashing this spacecraft into is not on a collision course with Earth. It is only a test. But why has NASA suddenly become so concerned with figuring out how to defend the Earth from giant asteroids? Could it be possible that there is something heading toward Earth in the future that they haven’t told us about yet?

According to NASA, there are more than 26,000 asteroids that pass near Earth, and more than 2,000 of them are classified as “potentially dangerous” asteroids.
Most of those “potentially dangerous” asteroids aren’t that large, but 158 of them do have a diameter of more than one kilometer.
If one of those monsters were to hit us, it would be a disaster of cataclysmic proportions.
Of course there are countless other space rocks that our scientists have not discovered yet, and those probably represent the greatest threat. Because if you don’t see a threat coming, you can’t get prepared for it in advance.
These days, NASA officials have become quite preoccupied by the threat that giant space rocks potentially pose, and we are being told that “scientists are at work on a plan to avoid the destruction of Earth by an errant asteroid”. The following comes from an article that was just published by the Boston Globe
NASA and a cadre of the world’s leading engineers and space scientists are at work on a plan to avoid the destruction of Earth by an errant asteroid like the one 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs, created a cloud of dust so impenetrable that it blocked out the sun, and plunged the planet into a prolonged winter that sent half of all plant life into extinction.
Personally, I think that this is something that NASA should definitely be focusing on, because the threat is very real.
Most people don’t realize this, but our planet is actually being pelted by space debris on a constant basis at this point. In fact, NASA says that we are being hit by very small objects “every day”
Every day, Earth is bombarded by tons of dust and sand-sized particles from the solar system. Meteoroids burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere causing little or no damage. They are easy to spot, streaking across the night sky in brilliant, short-lived bursts of light. Of more concern are the asteroids that pass by Earth unnoticed; they are difficult to detect and track as observers depend on reflected sunlight to spot them.
Thankfully, the vast majority of the objects that we encounter are too small to do any damage.
But it is just a matter of time before a really big space rock comes along.
NASA officials like to give the impression that they have a really good idea of what is going on up there, but the truth is that our ability to detect large space rocks is still quite limited. In May, a “potentially hazardous” asteroid that came close to Earth was only discovered about a week before it arrived
The reason why 2021 KT1 is news is that NASA estimates that it’s between 492 feet/150 meters and 1,082 feet/330 meters in diameter. It wasn’t observed until late in May 2021 just a week before its closest pass.
And late last year a fairly large asteroid was not discovered until it had already buzzed dangerously close to our planet
Wow. A low-flying space rock set a record last Friday (appropriately, the 13th), when 2020 VT4 passed just under 400 kilometers (250 miles) over the Southern Pacific.
The asteroid was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii in the early morning hours of Saturday, November 14th, just 15 hours after approach. This is not uncommon for fast-movers, especially asteroids that are coming at the Earth from our sunward blind-spot, like 2020 VT4.
So if a major threat is headed our way, we may or may not see it coming in advance.
If we do have advance warning that a huge asteroid is coming, obviously we would want to try to do something about it. With such a scenario in mind, NASA will soon be crashing the DART spacecraft into a giant space rock called Dimorphos
Developed by a team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, DART is an unmanned, remotely controlled astronomical suicide mission designed to nudge an asteroid that is half a mile in diameter out of its orbit. Doomsayers take note: This is only a test. The asteroid in question, Didymos — Greek for “twin,” and so named because it was discovered to be paired with its own small moon — is not actually on a collision course with Earth.
Sometime between Thanksgiving week (perhaps as soon as the evening of Nov. 23) and February 2022, the team behind DART will launch it from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The spacecraft will, if all goes according to plan, travel 6.8 million miles to reach and collide with Didymos’s moonlet, Dimorphos, which is 525 feet in diameter.
Is NASA testing out technology that they plan to use on another giant space rock at a later date?
Some have suggested that an asteroid known as Apophis could hit us on April 13th, 2029
On April 13, 2029 (which happens to be Friday the 13th), something unsettling will happen.
A decent-sized asteroid, the 1,100-foot-wide Apophis, will pass so close to Earth it’ll be visible in the sky from certain places. Crucially, the giant rock will not strike our humble planet. But it will pass closer than 20,000 miles from the surface, which is closer than where some of the United States’ most prized weather satellites orbit.
But NASA insists that Apophis will not hit us “for at least a century”
After its discovery in 2004, asteroid 99942 Apophis had been identified as one of the most hazardous asteroids that could impact Earth. But that impact assessment changed as astronomers tracked Apophis and its orbit became better determined.
Now, the results from a new radar observation campaign combined with precise orbit analysis have helped astronomers conclude that there is no risk of Apophis impacting our planet for at least a century.
Estimated to be about 1,100 feet (340 meters) across, Apophis quickly gained notoriety as an asteroid that could pose a serious threat to Earth when astronomers predicted that it would come uncomfortably close in 2029. Thanks to additional observations of the near-Earth object (NEO), the risk of an impact in 2029 was later ruled out, as was the potential impact risk posed by another close approach in 2036.
The orbit of Apophis is now very well known by astronomers all over the globe. To me, all of the giant space rocks that are floating around up there that we don’t know about represent a much greater threat.
Unfortunately, the number of large space rocks going by our planet has been steadily increasing, and I believe that there is a good chance that we could see an asteroid impact long before 2029 ever rolls around.

If NASA officials know about such a threat, for now they aren’t admitting that to the public.
But they are admitting that they are trying to figure out how to deflect a very large asteroid, and that should definitely be getting our attention.

Posted for fair use
 

West

Senior
Is it really a asteroid? There targeting?.....

171212-Interstellar-Full.jpg


Or are they really going to capture it? Think this is a NASA picture...
hoyt-2014.jpg
 

jward

passin' thru
Scientists Have Some Pretty Wild Ideas for Preventing Space Junk Armageddon
From space lassos and solar sails to laser cannons, here's what it might take to clear low-Earth orbit of dangerous space debris.


Once you have the technology to blast bits of space junk out of the low-Earth orbit, some glorious goals come within reach. Philip Lubin of the University of California, Santa Barbara, has drawn up plans for a system of ground-based lasers he calls DE-STAR. His lab has conducted promising experiments on laser-based space debris mitigation, but his ultimate goal is to scale up the system so it could protect Earth from larger external threats.
“It could be used for deflection of asteroids as well as evaporation of asteroids, among other uses,” Lubin says. The amount of energy needed to avert an asteroid strike is far beyond what any existing laser system can achieve, so a space debris zapping system would be a crucial stepping stone technology.

Image: Impact chip

A quarter-inch chip was gouged out of a window in the International Space Station's Cupola by the impact from a tiny piece of space debris, possibly a paint flake or small metal fragment no bigger than a few thousandths of a millimeter across. Tim Peake / ESA
But even warding off killer asteroids is not Lubin’s ultimate goal. What he really wants to do is use the same laser array technology, bulked up even further, to accelerate miniature spacecraft to ultra-high velocities — up to 20 percent the speed of light. Those spacecraft would have sails to catch the laser beam. Once launched, the mini-probes could then explore planets and search for signs of life in the universe.
 

jward

passin' thru
The Odds of Successfully Mining Asteroids
Posted on

5-6 minutes





Star Wars


The Hoth asteroid field, which Han Solo improbably and awesomely navigates, is chock full of asteroids that contain valuable minerals and materials, including platinum. While I doubt there are any exogorths (space slugs) or mynocks (the winged parasites that live on the slugs–but you all knew that, right?) on these asteroids, the centrality and value of these celestial rocks in the Star Wars universe is not mere science fiction. Neither is the scenario in Leviathan Wakes, a book by James S. A. Corey and now a Syfy series called The Expanse, in which people have colonized the solar system and set up mining stations on asteroids.

In November, President Obama signed the Asteroid Resources Property Rights Act, which allows Americans to mine asteroids and to own or sell the materials they get. Planetary Resources started billing itself years ago as “the asteroid mining company” and believes asteroid mining will become a reality within the next decade. The Star Wars lore regarding asteroids is accurate—they are indeed hugely valuable. Some contain vast quantities of water, which Planetary Resources hopes to convert into rocket fuel, but even more profitable than that are metals, such as gold and iron, and the most lucrative element of all: platinum. While the existence of an all-platinum asteroid hasn’t been substantiated, we know there are asteroids with millions of tons of platinum out there, and they’re worth trillions of dollars.
asteroid resources

So…how exactly will we go about mining asteroids?
The first step is identifying them. Most asteroids live in the belt between Mars and Jupiter (asteroids closer to Earth usually are comprised of rock and are the least valuable type). Satellites such as Planetary Resources crowd-funded ARKYD will allow companies to target asteroids they want to mine.

There are a few different strategies for asteroid mining, the most predictable of which involves having a robotic miner harvest the desired material. But scientists are also considering using rockets to tow asteroids into Earth’s orbit or even bagging them up for easier hauling, or for concentrating sunlight to heat them up, making it easier to excavate water and other material. Some scientists think that near-Earth asteroids would be great fueling and supply stations.

Taking another cue from sci-fi, scientists have realized that—at least theoretically—we can manipulate asteroids a fair bit. NASA’s Near Earth Object Program has a number of strategies to search for near-Earth comets and asteroids, such as its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft NEOWISE. The ESA is involved in the hunt as well with its Asteroid Impact Mission, as is JAXA with its asteroid-hunting probe Hayabusa-2. NASA even crowd-sourced some asteroid-hunting programs earlier this year.

These agencies are keeping their eyes out not for metal-rich asteroids (though I have to wonder if that’s in the cards going forward), but for ones that might be on a collision course with Earth. In that case, the Armageddon strategy—nuking an asteroid before it hits—is a possibility. But such detonations come with serious risks, including launching pieces of rock in all directions at top speeds, which could wreak havoc on space stations, spacecraft, and/or satellites, and could potentially send two huge rocks down to Earth, ala Deep Impact. Thus, scientists are now working on ways to deflect or move asteroids, a technique that could prove useful not just for safety, but also for mining. And the best part? We may be able to do it with lasers.

The Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation, otherwise known as DE-STAR, could, according to simulations, stop an asteroid from spinning or move it in a certain direction. Laser ablation involves irradiating an object with a laser beam, causing some of the asteroid’s mass to vaporize, which then triggers a mass ejection that causes thrust and propulsion—theoretically, enough to alter an asteroid’s course. This could be used to steer an asteroid away from Earth, or it could be used to push an asteroid—say, a smaller, platinum-laden one—closer to Earth for easier and cheaper mining. Of course, the process of deflecting or harnessing an asteroid is expensive and potentially dangerous, but no risk no reward, as they say.

The technological feasibility of mining asteroids is only one hurdle to overcome. What happens next is in many ways a bigger and more complicated question. In Star Wars and in Leviathan Wakes, asteroids and the resources they offer also breed criminal activity and conflict, which I fear may be inevitable in the near future as companies and countries vie for resources. But who knows how this will all play out? As a wise man once said, “Never tell me the odds. “

Never Tell Me the Odds on Disney Video
 

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MinnesotaSmith

Membership Revoked
Is it really a asteroid? There targeting?.....

171212-Interstellar-Full.jpg


Or are they really going to capture it? Think this is a NASA picture...
hoyt-2014.jpg
Isn't there an asteroid that NASA thinks is likely mostly Au and/or Pt, to the tune of tens of trillions of dollars worth?
 

Macgyver

Has No Life - Lives on TB
NASA is not the only people watching asteroids. Most of this crap is watched by non government groups as agencies.
Hiding it's existence would be impossible.
 

The Mountain

Here since the beginning
_______________
Isn't there an asteroid that NASA thinks is likely mostly Au and/or Pt, to the tune of tens of trillions of dollars worth?

The pic is that interstellar asteroid(?). But yes, there are regular belt asteroids that are high in precious metals. They are not worth tens of trillions though.


They are worth multiple QUADRILLIONS. If you were able to capture and mine just one, you'd have more wealth than the economic output of the entire planet.
 

jward

passin' thru
Isn't there an asteroid that NASA thinks is likely mostly Au and/or Pt, to the tune of tens of trillions of dollars worth?


The pic is that interstellar asteroid(?). But yes, there are regular belt asteroids that are high in precious metals. They are not worth tens of trillions though.


They are worth multiple QUADRILLIONS. If you were able to capture and mine just one, you'd have more wealth than the economic output of the entire planet.
 

lonestar09

Veteran Member
Why Is NASA Working So Hard To Learn How To Defend The Earth From Giant Asteroids?
by Tyler Durden

7-9 minutes


Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
Did you know that NASA is going to send a spacecraft on a suicide mission in an attempt to change the trajectory of a massive space rock? The good news is that the space rock that NASA will be crashing this spacecraft into is not on a collision course with Earth. It is only a test. But why has NASA suddenly become so concerned with figuring out how to defend the Earth from giant asteroids? Could it be possible that there is something heading toward Earth in the future that they haven’t told us about yet?

According to NASA, there are more than 26,000 asteroids that pass near Earth, and more than 2,000 of them are classified as “potentially dangerous” asteroids.
Most of those “potentially dangerous” asteroids aren’t that large, but 158 of them do have a diameter of more than one kilometer.
If one of those monsters were to hit us, it would be a disaster of cataclysmic proportions.
Of course there are countless other space rocks that our scientists have not discovered yet, and those probably represent the greatest threat. Because if you don’t see a threat coming, you can’t get prepared for it in advance.
These days, NASA officials have become quite preoccupied by the threat that giant space rocks potentially pose, and we are being told that “scientists are at work on a plan to avoid the destruction of Earth by an errant asteroid”. The following comes from an article that was just published by the Boston Globe

Personally, I think that this is something that NASA should definitely be focusing on, because the threat is very real.
Most people don’t realize this, but our planet is actually being pelted by space debris on a constant basis at this point. In fact, NASA says that we are being hit by very small objects “every day”

Thankfully, the vast majority of the objects that we encounter are too small to do any damage.
But it is just a matter of time before a really big space rock comes along.
NASA officials like to give the impression that they have a really good idea of what is going on up there, but the truth is that our ability to detect large space rocks is still quite limited. In May, a “potentially hazardous” asteroid that came close to Earth was only discovered about a week before it arrived

And late last year a fairly large asteroid was not discovered until it had already buzzed dangerously close to our planet

So if a major threat is headed our way, we may or may not see it coming in advance.
If we do have advance warning that a huge asteroid is coming, obviously we would want to try to do something about it. With such a scenario in mind, NASA will soon be crashing the DART spacecraft into a giant space rock called Dimorphos

Is NASA testing out technology that they plan to use on another giant space rock at a later date?
Some have suggested that an asteroid known as Apophis could hit us on April 13th, 2029

But NASA insists that Apophis will not hit us “for at least a century”

The orbit of Apophis is now very well known by astronomers all over the globe. To me, all of the giant space rocks that are floating around up there that we don’t know about represent a much greater threat.
Unfortunately, the number of large space rocks going by our planet has been steadily increasing, and I believe that there is a good chance that we could see an asteroid impact long before 2029 ever rolls around.

If NASA officials know about such a threat, for now they aren’t admitting that to the public.
But they are admitting that they are trying to figure out how to deflect a very large asteroid, and that should definitely be getting our attention.

Posted for fair use
Because Bruce Willis is getting a little too old to take care of it now.
 

usmcpackrat

Veteran Member
See....I knew it!

BIG Asteroid!!!

Yea!!!

The earth need a cleansing......and I want off....

Just look at the first 3 pages on the board.....


Does that explain it?
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Because there's one out there with our name on it and we may only have a short time to react to it. We almost certainly won't see it until the last minute.

No conspiracy here. This is necessary research and important to the survival of the planet.

Recall the one that exploded over Russia a while back....never mind the one that took out the dinosaurs.....
 

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The pic is that interstellar asteroid(?). But yes, there are regular belt asteroids that are high in precious metals. They are not worth tens of trillions though.


They are worth multiple QUADRILLIONS. If you were able to capture and mine just one, you'd have more wealth than the economic output of the entire planet.

If we somehow captured an asteroid made of gold (and could economically get it to Earth), the value would not be multiple $quadrillions because the metal's price would crash. Outside of jewelry functions and a few specialized industrial applications, gold just isn't very useful. Its high price is a function of its rarity.

Don't get me wrong. I love gold and believe in hard money, but I understand the history and rarity of the metal. As far as the precious metals go, silver is far more useful than gold! Silver and gold are both undervalued due to official .gov suppression, but silver is far more undervalued than gold.

Captured asteroids? Keep dreaming. Not happening in our lifetimes.

Best
Doc
 

TheSearcher

Are you sure about that?
If we somehow captured an asteroid made of gold (and could economically get it to Earth), the value would not be multiple $quadrillions because the metal's price would crash. Outside of jewelry functions and a few specialized industrial applications, gold just isn't very useful. Its high price is a function of its rarity.

Don't get me wrong. I love gold and believe in hard money, but I understand the history and rarity of the metal. As far as the precious metals go, silver is far more useful than gold! Silver and gold are both undervalued due to official .gov suppression, but silver is far more undervalued than gold.

Captured asteroids? Keep dreaming. Not happening in our lifetimes.

Best
Doc

The real value in asteroids are for space-age island hopping. Resource locations that, once established, provide water, metals, even carbon compounds for developing space in general, without continually having to struggle out of Earth's gravity field every time. Crashing the metals market on Earth would indeed be a mistake.
 

jward

passin' thru
Planetary Defense Frequently Asked Questions

What is Planetary Defense?


Is it likely that an asteroid will impact Earth in the near future?
Asteroid impacts are a continuously occurring natural process. Every day, 80 to 100 tons of material falls upon Earth from space in the form of dust and small meteorites (fragments of asteroids that disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere). Over the past 20 years, U.S. government sensors have detected nearly 600 very small asteroids a few meters in size that have entered Earth’s atmosphere and created spectacular bolides (fireballs). Experts estimate that an impact of an object the size of the one that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 – approximately 55 feet (17 meters) in size – takes place once or twice a century. Impacts of larger objects are expected to be far less frequent (on the scale of centuries to millennia). However, given the current incompleteness of the NEO catalogue, an unpredicted impact – such as the Chelyabinsk event – could occur at any time.
Would it be possible to shoot down an asteroid that is about to impact Earth?
An asteroid on a trajectory to impact Earth could not be shot down in the last few minutes or even hours before impact. No known weapon system could stop the mass because of the velocity at which it travels – an average of 12 miles per second.
 
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