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In reply to the discussion: House committee to hold hearing on asteroid threat [View all]longship
(40,416 posts)20. A weapon is a very bad way to solve the problem.
First, it wouldn't solve the problem. What is left of the asteroid would still hit, and if you hit it with a nuke, it would be full of radioactive daughter products.
You want to move it, change its orbit, since that's the way you get it to miss. And you can do that without what would be called a weapon if you know its orbit ahead of time.
If all one can think of are nuclear weapons to fix this, one probably has been watching too many Bruce Willis movies. At least Steve Buscemi's character got it right. "Guess what guys! It's time to embrace the horror."
It won't work.
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Most of the feasible deflection strategies would make lousy weapons, so no. (nt)
Posteritatis
Feb 2013
#28
It's one of the standard anti-space lines that gets bandied around DU. (nt)
Posteritatis
Feb 2013
#37
Read a book or two and come back when you've got some education on the topic. (nt)
Posteritatis
Feb 2013
#26
I'm sure someone said exactly the same thing about the levees in New Orleans.
wickerwoman
Feb 2013
#13
Hah! Obama got the asteroids and meteoroids to do this just to further his agenda...
Ian David
Feb 2013
#5
The "House Science Committee" is an oxymoron, like "military intelligence" or "conservative thinker"
KamaAina
Feb 2013
#11
The House SST Committee should first hold a hearing that explores why many of them do not respect...
xocet
Feb 2013
#14
10 of the full committee of 39 members are either from Texas or Oklahoma so it is not just you. n/t
xocet
Feb 2013
#41
It's more about the absolute certainy that these *will* do something worse eventually
Posteritatis
Feb 2013
#30
Obviously we need to send Kirok into the temple and make the blue flame come out
One_Life_To_Give
Feb 2013
#23