How Paintballs Could Force an Asteroid Off Course

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"Sung Wook Paek, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics"

Like if only graduate student in MIT can think at stupid things like that. Yea let's go paint some asteroids, cuz you know atomic bombs are so expensive. What about 5+ tons of paint. What kind of news is this?
 
I got an idea, everyone post one idea to rock the asteroid of its course, lets see who comes out with a better idea. Here is mine:
Launch into space some rockets that will not explode, but attach to the rock from one of the sides and then turn on to modify its Trajectory enought to avoid earth. As far as i know, in space the only forces to atract a comme is gravitation, so if for an asteroid to hit earth it must have a certain path, modifing it by just a bit (far enought thou) should send it far away enougth. Well we still have a 2012 comming, right? 😀.
 
[citation][nom]noob2222[/nom]lol, only 20 years for it to alter its course[/citation]

It's only gonna hit us in less than 20 years.
oh well, get stocked up on weapons and get in your hibernation pods.
We're gonna play RAGE 😀
 
[citation][nom]Cats_Paw[/nom]I got an idea, everyone post one idea to rock the asteroid of its course, lets see who comes out with a better idea. Here is mine:Launch into space some rockets that will not explode, but attach to the rock from one of the sides and then turn on to modify its Trajectory enought to avoid earth. As far as i know, in space the only forces to atract a comme is gravitation, so if for an asteroid to hit earth it must have a certain path, modifing it by just a bit (far enought thou) should send it far away enougth. Well we still have a 2012 comming, right? .[/citation]
You are forgetting about inertia. A rock the size of Earth has a lot of inertia and will take more than one of our tiny rockets to make a change in its path.
 
[citation][nom]Just a nickname[/nom]"Sung Wook Paek, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics"Like if only graduate student in MIT can think at stupid things like that. Yea let's go paint some asteroids, cuz you know atomic bombs are so expensive. What about 5+ tons of paint. What kind of news is this?[/citation]

the problem with nukes is, the explosion might just split the rock into a thousand tiny pieces which makes it even harder to deflect afterwards.
not to mention, the rocks will be radioactive when they come hurling at you.
There are also international treaties banning the use of nukes in space, though That can easily be put aside in the name of saving the earth, you are still talking about stopping a Gigatonne rock with a Megaton payload..... 😛
 
Shooting 5 tonnes of Paint at an oblong object , in space, moving incredibly fast with some sort of device capable of doing so. Ok , so one has been holding the bong for far too long!
 
Some of the comments here remind me of how most of the experts (REAL experts that is) said that if an aircraft were to break the sound barrier it would vibrate itself apart based on their data when approaching MACH 1. It took a brave few to prove them all wrong.

While this idea may seem implausible (though more impractical if the NEO is closer than 20 years out) to me, I have to admit that most of the science involved is way over my head.
 
[citation][nom]Cats_Paw[/nom]I got an idea, everyone post one idea to rock the asteroid of its course, lets see who comes out with a better idea. Here is mine:Launch into space some rockets that will not explode, but attach to the rock from one of the sides and then turn on to modify its Trajectory enought to avoid earth. As far as i know, in space the only forces to atract a comme is gravitation, so if for an asteroid to hit earth it must have a certain path, modifing it by just a bit (far enought thou) should send it far away enougth. Well we still have a 2012 comming, right? .[/citation]

"This is all very simple. Just change the gravitational constant of the universe." - Q
 
[citation][nom]noob2222[/nom]lol, only 20 years for it to alter its course[/citation]

20 years is a blink of the eye as far as the universe is concered. and not bad considering the photons that will alter the course of the asteroid are sub-atomic particles.
 
the nuke idea will work as long as you detonate it close to the asteroid and not ON the asteroid.

even if its costs 1000 nukes that blow up next to it, to nudge it along the way.

i believe apothes can be nudges with an bombardment of nukes that go off next to it.

the only way that CANT work is if the nukes cant give any blast/push on the object if it is too far away.

also what about making rocket like objects that attack themselves to the asteroid and drill inside to secure itself, then it just accelerates into a direction away from earth, eventualy it will have to budge.

or we can use a ship to hover in close proximity to grab it with the ships gravity.

many ways... now just to test which one is more succesfull in the shortest time span.
 
[citation][nom]Parrdacc[/nom]"This is all very simple. Just change the gravitational constant of the universe." - Q[/citation]
Hey, that worked. All Geordi needed to do was create a Warp Bubble large enough to encompass the asteroid, which effectively changed the gravitational constant...
 
As dumb as the idea is, it might actually work.

Consider two nerds working in a garage and decided to build a computer. Now how crazy was that idea?

Crazy ideas work.
 
Guys wait! We have the answer, quick make trash!!!
Now lets collect a big ball of it and launch it into the asteroid.
Now we'll only have 1000 years before earth has to do it again but at least it buys us time, course we'll be dead by then so who cares?

-Futurama ahhhh yeahhh
 
[citation][nom]Just a nickname[/nom]... in MIT can think at stupid things like that. Yea let's go paint some asteroids, cuz you know atomic bombs are so expensive. What about 5+ tons of paint. What kind of news is this?[/citation]

Because MIT students know the laws of physics.
If you just blow up that sucker the resulting chunks of debris will continue on their path. So instead of getting hit by one massive rock we get peppered by hundreds of smaller ones that each are still larger than we'd care for.
 
I think an existing solution (and one that won't take 20 years to see results) is to develop a magnetic rail gun (which already exists) and adapt it to be mounted to the ISS (or give it its own orbital platform) which can then monitor and take out (or deflect) asteroids with possibly different types of ammo (nuclear tip, etc.) considering rail guns fire rounds at a speed about Mach 7.
 
27-gigaton [sic] GIGATON? WTF?

Somebody's math is way, way off. 27 megatons maybe (yielding a specific gravity of 5.6) - but NOT gigatons!

 
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