Russia may send spacecraft to knock away asteroid

Jazzy · Post by **Jazzy** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:22 am

MOSCOW â€“ Russia is considering sending a spacecraft to a large asteroid to knock it off its path and prevent a possible collision with Earth, the head of the country's space agency said Wednesday.

Anatoly Perminov said the space agency will hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis, telling Golos Rossii radio that it would invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project once it is finalized.

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated the chances of it smashing into Earth in its first flyby in 2029 were as high as 1-in-37, but have since lowered their estimate.

Further studies ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) above Earth's surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters.

In October, NASA lowered the odds that Apophis could hit Earth in 2036 from a 1-in-45,000 as earlier thought to a 1-in-250,000 chance after researchers recalculated the asteroid's path. It said another close encounter in 2068 will involve a 1-in-330,000 chance of impact.

Without mentioning NASA findings, Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032," Perminov said.

"People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people," Perminov said.

Read More: Russia may send spacecraft to knock away asteroid - Yahoo! News

Post by **LarsMac** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:28 am

You how many people play the lottery hoping to hit odds far greater than that?

Of course, what happens if they screw up and nudge it the wrong direction?

Snowfire · Post by **Snowfire** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:42 am

Surely its not Russia's or, for that matter, the USA's decision alone to make. A UN decision.

Seems the mathematics dont correspond, so why dont they all sit down together.

and calculate it again

I want to see the working out

Post by **LarsMac** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:44 am

Snowfire;1277411 wrote: Surely its not Russia's or, for that matter, the USA's decision alone to make. A UN decision.

Seems the mathematics dont correspond, so why dont they all sit down together.

and calculate it again

I want to see the working out

Sounds like the Russians have already decided, and are just inviting the rest of the world to share the adventure.

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:48 am

LarsMac;1277413 wrote: Sounds like the Russians have already decided, and are just inviting the rest of the world to share the adventure.Isn't that just so ....Rushin' of them.:wah:

Rapunzel · Post by **Rapunzel** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:58 am

Snowfire;1277411 wrote: Surely its not Russia's or, for that matter, the USA's decision alone to make. A UN decision.

Seems the mathematics dont correspond, so why dont they all sit down together.

and calculate it again

I want to see the working out

How appropriate to name it after the God, Apophis, the destroyer.

Surely they can only estimate it's trajectory?

Even if they follow it's orbit, the slightest kink in it's orbit at any time could, over time, cause a quite radical change in its trajectory.

Also, it could be hit at any point along it's path by another meteor which is big enough to knock it, even slightly, from it's planned course.

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:04 am

If worse comes to worse, the Russians can just send Putin up there to karate kick it out of its orbit.

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:47 am

Ahso!;1277425 wrote: If worse comes to worse, the Russians can just send Putin up there to karate kick it out of its orbit.

Huh. I wouldn't be impressed by so blatant a publicity stunt. :wah:

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:51 am

I wonder if they have contacted Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck yet. Lets hope they aren't in the middle of filming a movie.

Lon · Post by **Lon** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:32 pm

I have already taken care of the problem and changed the trajectory of the asteroid. It's one of the features of my PS3. I do expect a modest payment of $876,654.67 USD for my services.

mikeinie · Post by **mikeinie** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 4:05 pm

Great, now we have a new dooms day date after 2012 passes us by.

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 4:07 pm

mikeinie;1277521 wrote: Great, now we have a new dooms day date after 2012 passes us by.:wah: Truthbringer should be along shortly.