A-close-shave-with-da14
A Close Shave with DA14
By Mary Basiadima, 15 February 2013
I am sure there were many women around the globe who were wishing for a ‘big rock’ for valentine’s day I am pretty sure this is not what they had in mind. An asteroid that goes by the name DA14 will miss earth tonight as it casually cruises by 17,200 miles of earth. Yes, I know 17,200 miles may seem like a cosmic distance but don’t be fooled, this 150 foot wide asteroid will have made a grand entrance into the Guinness book of records with it being the closest encounter with an asteroid ever . In fact it’s that close that at its closest point it will be within orbit of excess of 100 and satellites.
Don’t worry we are safe…or are we?
are said to be 99.9% confident that we are safe from an type scenario. So don’t worry Bruce, we won’t be you up in a space shuttle again any time soon to be exploding any .
However breaking news this that Russia has been left in devastation as a meteor shower rained down over the region, injuring over 500 people. The meteorite disintegrated above Urals, breaking up in the lower earth’s atmosphere. Reports from the minister claim that as of 14:30 Moscow time, 514 people sort out with 112 of these being hospitalised.
this crafty used the sun to remain undetected until it was too late. of the event said that the explosion of impact was so loud it seemed like an earthquake and strike had happened at the same time.
In a what would happen if this Asteroid was to hit?
I think it goes without saying that this would be bad news. To first answer this we have to figure out how much energy the could potentially release upon impact. This will some very complicated out so I hope you have all up on your advanced math.
Looking below we can see the equation used to work this out:
Σ(2r+3) = 6Σr + 3Σ(8) (r = 1…n)
=5n(n+7)/2 + 1n
Ok that is interesting, are you getting the same answer as me? No? Ok let me this equation for you:
Big asteroid + Impact with earth = Very Bad.
Lucky for us three very clever scientists asked themselves the very same question back in 2010. Their shown that the impact would have 3.3 megatons of kinetic energy and an airburst energy of around 2.9 megatons, 5.2 miles from the surface. This energy can be to around 138 atomic bombs to the one dropped in back in 1945.
Now this kinetic energy being upon the major cities of the world including New York, London, Tokyo or Moscow. Frightening right? However if we step back for a moment we would realise that such an event would be quite rare as these cities as big as they are, are only a small dot to the vast area of the earth.
Could we defend against such an event?
There have been on how we could defend our precious little marble from such an attack. But during these troubled times such struggle to make it past the board as they are likely to cost in excess of millions, if not billions of pounds. Let’s take a look at some of the top ideas suggested:
Go Nuclear
We could send a nuclear to the which would blow it into millions of little pieces. This however has its consequences in that the small pieces could rain over earth causing a shower of destruction. Hmmm this might not be the best idea after all…
Go Nuclear…Plan B
Rather than actually up the asteroid we could try and give it a gentle nudge off its path. By exploding a near the big rock we could hope to change the trajectory and it. Again though the to this plan is that this would have to happen before it reached us so early detection would be vital to the of this plan.
Rocket Power
This idea would involve spaceships on the asteroid (quite a tricky feat) and then firing up the engines to propel the asteroid off course.
Use Our Good Old Friend Gravity
As we all know every object exerts a pull. By hovering over an asteroid believe this could pull the rock off course. Obviously the bigger the the better as it would exert a greater pull.
Lasers
In something that we would be more likely to be seen in a Star Wars movie, we could use a small team of ships which could fire lasers at the giant rock resulting in a trail of debris changing its path.
Harness the Power Of Sun
By attaching solar sails to the earth destroyer, a photon sail could just be enough to change the of the rock, if only by a little.
Paint Ball
This one is my and whoever came up with this in- genius idea deserves a good pat on the back. By a spaceship close to the two volleys of paint could be used to cover the in white (or light) coloured powder. The first volley would be used to cover one half whilst the over the side. The idea behind this is with the rock brightened, increasing its albedo, the suns would more forcefully push upon it which would result in it its trajectory. Think about it according to physics when something bounces off something, the first something gives the second something a push. Also an added bonus to this approach is that when the are fired the impact from the paint would also slightly give the a slight nudge…every little helps.
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