MOSCOW ā Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely. Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_russia_asteroid_encounter Nevermind terrorism the Russians are paranoid and attempting to save the earth: "Without mentioning NASA's conclusions, 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 us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people," Perminov said." No more mortgage payments peoplePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Thanks for posting the interesting article Miss SnowPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!, I think its interesting just to see if it can be done.
I think they should give it a go, sounds like a problematic object. It would be a good case study too, in case a much bigger object was headed our way...
What if they knock if into a new course that makes it hit the Earth instead???Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
As per wikipedia: Possible impact effects NASA initially estimated the energy that Apophis would have released if it struck Earth as the equivalent of 1,480 megatons of TNT. A later, more refined NASA estimate was 880 megatons.[2] The impacts which created the Barringer Crater or the Tunguska event are estimated to be in the 3ā10 megaton range[16] The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was the equivalent of roughly 200 megatons. Path of risk where 99942 Apophis may impact Earth in 2036.The exact effects of any impact would vary based on the asteroid's composition, and the location and angle of impact. Any impact would be extremely detrimental to an area of thousands of square kilometres, but would be unlikely to have long-lasting global effects, such as the initiation of an impact winter.
That's the actual plan... Then they'll hold the world for ransom by threatening to allow the asteroid to hit Earth if we don't declare Russia "All High God King Boofoo", or whatever.