WEBVTT - Rerun: Can we stop an asteroid from hitting Earth? 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.240 Welcome to tex Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:13.840 How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:16.640 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.920 I Heart Radio and I love all things tech. And 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:24.360 as you listen to this, I will be returning to Atlanta, 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:30.120 which likely will be under a storm cloud of rain again, 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:35.320 having spent a week in Hawaii. So because it's gonna 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:36.760 take me a little bit of time to get back 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:38.640 into the swing of things, we're gonna listen to a 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:42.599 classic episode. But don't worry, brand new material will be 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:46.000 coming out very soon. For today, however, we're going to 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.040 listen to a classic episode titled Can We Stop and 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.600 Asteroid From Hitting Earth? And the reason I picked this 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.520 rerun is because I've been getting a lot of notifications 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:02.200 from a particular news sign outlet that seems to have 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:06.639 an update on potential disaster about asteroids on a daily basis. 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:08.800 I have a feeling that they're being a bit alarmist. 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.040 It is something to be concerned about, because we're talking 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:16.399 about a contingency that would be truly disastrous, but maybe 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:18.839 not something that we need a daily update of. Maybe 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.720 it will happen tomorrow. Levels So Chris Palette and I 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.440 sit down to talk about what we would do in 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:27.920 the event of an asteroid heading towards Earth and what 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:30.840 what are our various plans might be in order to 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:35.440 prevent that from becoming a worldwide catastrophe. Let's sit back 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:40.080 and listen. Asteroids and preventing a collision with Earth, and 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.520 what sort of tech would be involved with that. And 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:46.720 this comes courtesy of some Facebook requests and email requests. 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.320 I can't believe that we had people send us multiple 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:53.440 people sent us this request, which seems really specific for 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:57.680 more than one person. But hey, we're going to do it, okay. 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.960 And um you know, if you have seen the documentary Armageddon, 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.680 you remember that we shot Bruce Willis up into space 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:08.839 um with Ben Affleck and some other folks like Steve 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.160 Bussemmy to scare an asteroid out of the way, because 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.200 Steve Busumy is a scary guy. Uh wait, I think 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:16.800 I might be. I think I might be a little 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:19.040 off track. Oh well, anyway, the premise of the movie 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.280 was that there was this enormous asteroid the Signs of Texas, which, 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:29.480 by the way, not that guy. You yeah, that that's 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.960 that's a reference that goes over everyone's head because no one, 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:35.720 none of our listeners have ever played the game Asteroid. 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:39.359 What any really some of you have played Asteroids, and 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:44.080 maybe maybe maybe our our buddy Floyd the truck driver, 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.919 he might have. Hopefully not while driving, well, I hope not. Anyway, 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:51.399 we're getting off track already. So the whole, the whole 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:53.640 premise of the movie is that there's this giant asteroid 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.880 the size of Texas that's going to be flying at Earth. 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.480 And so they come up with this idea where they 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:03.480 scramble a bunch of of uh minors essentially to shoot 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.320 up into space, land on the asteroid and plant a 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.240 nuclear device on the asteroid that will blow it up 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.720 to tiny little bits and save the Earth. And so 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.320 we want to address this um this first. So let's 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.480 let's get this out of the way. That would not work. 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:22.360 That would that would be a bad thing. First of all, 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:27.919 the power of such a device is hard to imagine. 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.639 How would you create a nuclear device powerful enough to 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:36.240 explode Texas into tiny bits the equivalent of Texas flying 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.080 at you. Also, by the way, an asteroid that size 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:43.800 would pretty much wipe out everybody um, you know, when 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.840 we talk about asteroids that are are dangerous enough to 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.120 wipe out a city, fifty yards is big enough. A 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:53.520 fifty yard asteroid, like an asteroid fifty yards across, we 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:59.640 have enough power, enough enough force to destroy a city 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:05.520 if it impacted the city. Um. Now, NASA classifies earth 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.920 threatening asteroids as being a hundred and forty meters or larger. 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.000 But then that conveniently is about the size that we 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:17.279 can detect them. Well, it's uh, it's important to note 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:21.480 too that it's happened before. We have been hit with 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:26.080 with many space objects in the past, and I assume, 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:30.360 to some small degree, continue to do so. It's something 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.040 that we hear about in the news every day. But 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:36.960 every single day the Earth is hit by by tiny 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.840 little object. Granted we haven't been hit by a massive 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.560 asteroid in a really long time, but meteorites hit the 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.000 Earth every day. Sometimes they're so small that you know, 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:51.160 they're almost undetectable, but it does happen the But yeah, 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:54.000 they've happened in the past. I mean, that's what wiped 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:58.520 out the dinosaurs was an asteroid impact were possibly common impact, 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.919 but it was a mass of impact that that altered 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.640 the Earth's climate, and dinosaurs did not have air conditioning, 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:09.880 so they were pretty much doomed. Doomed. I figured it 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:13.680 was their debaucherous lifestyle and it was unsustainable. Now you're 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.039 thinking of Rome, right, you know, I get this confused 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:18.880 a lot. Yeah, well, you know, if you've ever seen 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:23.039 a t rex in a toga never mind, So so 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.560 why would this plan not work with destroying an asteroid 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.359 with a nuclear device. Let's assume that, for for argument's sake, 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:36.160 that somehow you managed to find a nuclear device capable 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:40.440 of breaking up a Texas size asteroid while it was 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.080 hurtling towards Earth. And keep in mind this was this 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:45.640 this asteroid was close to Earth by the time it 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.600 blows up. Otherwise it's not nearly as dramatic an ending. Right, 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:51.200 of course, you've gotta have it close enough to the 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.480 Earth where people are starting to really freak out. Oh 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.960 and how long exactly did they have to prepare for this? 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:58.520 It was like a couple of days or something like that. 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.599 It was crazy short time period. We would yeah, anything 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.200 that's anything that that size we would be able to 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:09.679 spot between Mars and Jupiter, giving us years, literally years 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.840 to prepare it would not be a last minute thing. 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.040 And that's one of the myths that movies perpetuate is 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:19.320 that you know, you have some uh some some amateur 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.280 astronomer out in the middle of nowhere just looking up 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:25.240 and saying, that's weird that star wasn't there yesterday. And 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.919 then and then that information slowly filters its way to 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.919 some official source which immediately clamps down and keeps it 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.440 all secret so that nobody knows that doom is on 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.400 the way until it leaks to the media causing a panic. Yeah, 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:40.560 that we don't want to cause a panic. That's definitely 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.880 Hollywood related. So why would blowing up the asteroid not 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.000 be a good idea? Well, that asteroids moving at a 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.719 really fast speed and the nuclear warhead is not going 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:52.560 to slow it down. Okay, so you've still got this 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:57.000 this material moving at an incredible speed, and the mass 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:59.679 isn't gone. You haven't destroyed the mass, You've just spread 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:03.080 it out some. So instead of it being a one 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:06.359 massive asteroid hitting the Earth, it's a whole bunch of 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.880 them hitting the Earth. And it's like the difference between 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.560 getting hit by a slug and getting hit by um 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:17.800 shotgun shot. We've just spread out the area of impact 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.640 is what you've done. This is mission control. We just 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:25.840 wanted to say, oops, yeah are bad? So um so yeah, 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:28.280 here's here's why all this stuff would really work in 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.200 the real world. All Right, We've got lots of powerful 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.480 telescopes pointing in all sorts of directions. Now, so the 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:39.360 the the myths of the amateur astronomer who detects uh 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:42.760 something the size the size that's in depicted an armageddon 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:46.480 is really that's that's busted because it would be detected 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:50.600 by much more powerful telescopes much earlier. And um that 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:54.400 information would go to uh it's kind of a clearing 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:59.320 house for near Earth objects that could potentially cause harm. 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:05.840 It's called the Minor Planet Center. It's in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now, 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.120 the Minor Planet Center would then take the information that 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.480 was sent to it, which usually would involve the size 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:15.320 of the asteroid and it's it's shape of orbit around 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:19.080 the Sun and whether that orbit could potentially uh collide 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.200 with the Earth, send that information out to observatories all 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.560 across the planet. Now, these observatories would then train their 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.720 telescopes onto the object to try and make their own 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.800 calculations based upon their own their own perspective to see 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:37.840 if perhaps this would be a quote unquote interesting object. Now, 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:42.720 in astronomical terms, interesting means, holy crap, we're all going 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.400 to die. That's the that's what they mean by interesting 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:51.560 as in potentially impact the Earth interesting. And that information 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:56.319 would then be shared amongst those observatories, and the likelihood 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:58.720 of a clamp down is really low, just because you 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.680 have so many people who would be involved in this 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.000 and have the information, and lots of them were gonna talk. 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:06.240 A lot of them, we're gonna talk and say we 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.120 got to prepare now, because if we don't, we're all 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.400 going to die, or a significant number of people are 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.239 going to die. Because if this asteroid hits a land mass, 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.040 then it's gonna be like, depending on the size of 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.000 the asteroid, it could be like the entire world's nuclear 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:26.800 arsenal exploding in a single point. Um. If it hits 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:31.760 the ocean, then it could generate a tsunami of unprecedented 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.720 uh force that could wipe out an entire coast of 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.720 a of a continent. Um. So I mean this is 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:45.120 serious business. Uh. Fortunately, we haven't discovered anything so far 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.960 that would cause that much of a problem. But again, 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:52.320 our ability to detect these objects is limited. Most of 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.959 the objects that NASA concentrates on is anything that's a 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:58.920 higher forty meters or across or larger. And uh, the 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.840 problem is that smaller objects could cause significant harm. But 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:07.559 finding those objects is a lot trickier because space is big. Really, yeah, 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.360 and in relation to space, fifty yard across asteroid or 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:16.160 is nothing. Yeah, it's it's you know, you you it's 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:21.640 it's impossible to exaggerate how tiny that is. Yeah, it's 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:26.000 like a it's like a germ on a bug. And 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.120 and and you happen to be like a blue whale. 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:34.440 That's kind of and even then that's not even close that. Yeah, 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:36.920 I can't get my mind around it. That's that's how 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.959 it is. So so all right, So nuking a an 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:43.560 asteroid directly, as in trying to blow it up, is 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.600 not a feasible option. So let's let's assume for the 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.440 moment that we have developed technology that helps us that's 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.760 improved our ability to detect asteroids to the point where 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:58.240 any asteroid that could potentially cause significant harm to people 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.560 on Earth, to life on Earth, that you have somehow 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:04.760 managed to to create the technology to detect it. Yeah, 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:06.640 all right, and it's and it's important to do so 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.480 because it is probable that we will be hit by 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:14.319 something largish again, yeah, at some point. Essentially, like it's 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:18.280 worthwhile to to develop this technology exactly. So, yeah, the 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.400 the risk might be low, but the impact would be huge. 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.920 So you know, even taking a low risk perspective of it, 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:29.880 the actual impact would be so enormous that it is 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:32.040 a good argument and a lot of people have made 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.640 this argument to um to invest in technology to help 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:39.760 prevent it from happening. I'd like to interrupt this particular 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:44.400 podcast about potential disaster in order to take a moment 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:54.959 to thank our sponsors. Let's assume that we have improved 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:58.080 technology so we can actually detect these asteroids from a 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:00.280 pretty good distance. Like I said, it might be years 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:02.240 before they get here, or we're gonna need that time 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.840 because we're gonna need that time to develop the actual 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.480 vehicles that the tools that we're going to use in 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.400 order to intercept that asteroid. So by intercepting it, what 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:18.320 could we do to to avoid a collision. Well, the 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:22.280 real key is deflecting the asteroid. You just have to 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.160 move it a tiny bit, especially the further out you go, 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.719 the further out you go, the tinier that that adjustment 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.920 needs to be, because by the time it gets to 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.880 the Earth, it's going to be the distance is going 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:36.600 to be much more enormous. You know. Just think about 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:41.199 like you're walking to have a friend standing across from 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.920 you across the football field, and you're both facing each 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:48.199 other exactly. Now, imagine that your friend just turns slightly 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.120 a little bit to the left and starts walking forward. Well, 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.679 from a distance, it looks like there that your friend 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.600 may actually meet up with you once they get all 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.720 the way across the football field. But as they continue, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.600 you see that they're getting further and further away until 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.560 they reach essentially a point parallel to you, and they 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:09.520 are a good distance from you right there, further down 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.440 the field, like further to the right or to the left, 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:15.160 whichever way that the person turned. Um, that's kind of 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:16.680 the idea here, is that if you can catch an 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:20.080 asteroid early enough and deflect it just a couple of degrees, 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.080 then you've solved the problem because it's going to miss 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.200 the Earth by millions of miles. But how do you 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:29.600 deflect it. Well, there's a lot of different options. Yeah, 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:34.720 I read uh too. Specifically that seemed to be the 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:39.160 options people are thinking of most like what's that um. 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:43.520 One of them, ironically enough, was to use nuclear devices, Yes, 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.400 but not to destroy, but to nudge. Right. Yeah, the 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.840 idea is being that you would you would detonate the 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:53.720 device over the asteroid. This would actually um cause a 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.480 couple of things to happen, and it's you know, it's 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.480 interesting that again that we're talking about something. You know, 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:01.800 you might say, hey, you just said nuking is bad. Well, 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.319 in this case, what would happen is that you would 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.840 uh create an uh a nuclear radiation would create this 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:11.440 uh this vaporizing energy and vaporize the surface or a 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.440 section of the surface of the asteroid. Now that's going 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.920 to cause that part of the surface to eject material 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.120 into space. And you know, for a react action, there's 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.840 an equal and opposite reaction, so that ejection from space 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.480 is actually going to act as a pushing force on 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:31.320 the asteroid. And it's tiny, but that's all you need necessary. 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:32.800 You know, that might be all you need to move 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:37.120 that asteroid out of the pathway of the Earth. So yeah, um, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.920 you're just using it again to to give the asteroid 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.840 a little push. Actually, most of the the options I've 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.840 seen are some variation on pushing the asteroid. It's just 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.080 lots of different potential ways we could do that. Well, 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.720 that's true. I did read UH yet. To be fair, 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:56.080 I did read of the possibility of using an inert 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:01.400 UH device nothing that explodes, but basically a bullet if 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:06.160 you will, to shove, using us kinetic force to push 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.320 the asteroid out of the way. Yeah, that is another 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:16.120 potential UM solution, although it's it's again one of those 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:20.200 that that has its own set of difficulties. But yeah, 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.640 that's that is what I've also heard, where you're just 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.400 using a kinetic force to to tap the asteroid out 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:30.520 of the way. And it's it's important to note that. Um. 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:35.680 What we really can't stress how much detection and identifying 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:40.240 the the objects path, how important that is because um, 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.040 there there's an effect called the Yarkovsky effect. Did you 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:47.280 read about this, um, As the object gets close to 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.000 the Sun, closer to the Sun. Um, And I'm not 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.080 talking about directly on a path too, but you know, 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.560 as it gets closer and closer to the Sun in 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:56.480 the center of our solar system, it's going to heat 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:02.040 up UM and for larger object it doesn't matter so 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:06.880 much UM. But according UH to an article that I 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:11.240 um than an article I read, the Arkovsky effect basically 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.680 means that once the the object starts to heat up, 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:19.400 the heat can affect its path. It can basically started 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:23.200 to move in a slightly different direction. So you need 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:25.000 to be able to We would need to be able 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:29.480 to know exactly where the or as least as close 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:33.240 enough to UH where the object is going to be 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:36.120 so that we can accurately hit it with something if 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.520 we're going to try to use a brute force method 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.240 of moving the the asteroid out of the way, And 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.560 a lot of the attempts to move asteroids may depend 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:49.160 upon sun, the sunlight and the Sun's power because UM, 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.760 there are a lot of different options that would harness 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.440 the power of the Sun in order to create a 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:59.520 pulling effect or pushing effect on the the asteroid. For example, 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:05.280 there's one UM one possible technique where we would coat 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:11.320 the asteroid with white and dark coating like paint or 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:16.920 dust or whatever, and that would cause it to move 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.480 because the Sun's energy would actually push against the asteroid. 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.280 And if we've coded the rights the correct side, not 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.440 the right side. I mean there's no real right or left, 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.320 but the correct side of the asteroid. It could push 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.119 the asteroid those couple of degrees. By the time it 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.359 gets to where the Earth is, it's millions of miles away. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.800 It's it's millions of miles off course from hitting the Earth. Um. Similarly, 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.919 there were suggestions that maybe we could create a solar 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:46.760 sail that would attach We would use a like a 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.960 probe to attach a solar sail to an asteroid, and 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:54.199 the solar sale would catch the Sun's energy and be 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:58.320 propelled by the solar wind, essentially to pull the asteroid 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:03.679 again outside of its pathway. UM. That that's kind of 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:05.919 a far fetched one, really. I mean, it's definitely a 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:09.320 lot more challenging than say, coading and asteroid with a 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:13.600 light colored material. Um. But then there's also the idea 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:18.119 of using a net, an enormous net to encapsulate the 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.640 the the asteroid, and the net would again act as 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.280 almost like a solar sale. It would it would react 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.880 against you know, the Sun. The Sun's energy would push 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:29.919 against the net, which again would alter the course of 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:36.040 the asteroid. UM. Mirrors are another potential UH solution where 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:39.959 you you launch a device that is going to deploy 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:44.280 mirrors around the asteroid to direct sunlight to specific points 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:48.040 in the asteroid to again push it out of the way. Um. Well, 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.679 everyone knows that asteroids are vein, so if you, you know, 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:52.640 put the mirrors on the far side of the Earth, 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.919 they'll go toward the mirrors and gold my best side. 0:18:55.960 --> 0:19:01.080 I look good. Um. But then a couple of other elements. 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:02.960 There are a couple other ways of nudging an asteroid 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:06.520 all the way that don't involve sunlight at all. Uh. 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:09.200 And one of them, one of them's strapping a rocket 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:13.399 to it. So essentially you have a um, do we 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.680 have to land somebody on the asteroid. No, not necessarily. 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:21.120 You'd have to have some sort of of remotely operated 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:26.680 probe that could embed into the asteroid itself and then 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.000 use um, have enough fuel in it to be able 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:33.880 to push as a rocket to push the asteroid out 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:38.199 of the way of the pathway of collision. Now it 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:39.879 doesn't have to push very hard, it doesn't have to 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:41.920 push for very long. Again, as long as you catch 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:44.439 the asteroid early enough that we have to keep stressing 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:46.840 that this is this is assuming that we capture that 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:49.400 we detect the asteroid and years and years and years 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:51.640 in advance, and that we're able to react quickly enough 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:53.840 so that by the time the probe reaches the asteroid, 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:55.920 because you remember, this isn't gonna be overnight. It's gonna 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:59.119 take time for the for whatever solution we deploy to 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:01.920 get to the asteroid. Like it, maybe you know, we 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:03.560 launched something and we don't know if it's going to 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:06.359 work for another two years or three years. I mean, 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:11.560 that's kind of scary to think about, but that's true. So, um, yeah, 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:14.880 you have to figure away where you have this this device, 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:16.840 and it has to be able to carry enough fuel 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:19.639 so that it can actually deploy properly. A lot of 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.400 people suggest that this kind of approach would be best 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.160 if it were already space born. So in other words, 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:29.240 we already had some sort of launching platform in space 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:34.520 so that the the individual probes would not need so 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.440 much fuel to both escape the arts gravity and land 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:41.440 on an asteroid and then propel it away. Um that 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:44.600 that does prose a problem. But then another one is 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.760 the gravity tractor. Ah. Yes, and I when I looked 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:51.320 up the gravity tractor, I had to check just a 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:55.760 moment ago and yes, someone has named their band gravity Tractor. 0:20:55.840 --> 0:21:01.840 Good for them, Yeah, lead singer John Dear nice, thank you. Um. 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:07.520 But yeah, the gravity tractor is fascinating, um because this 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:12.879 is essentially using a different body and the gravity of 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.240 another body and body that we would launch into space 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:20.640 to pull the asteroid away without even I mean there's 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.200 not the point here is not even to touch the asteroid. 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:26.800 It's to get something near enough to it to affect 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.880 um the asteroids path with another gravitational field, right, because 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:35.040 you getta remember everything in the universe exerts a gravitational 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.119 pull on everything else. It's just that that pull is 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:41.520 dependent upon distance and mass and lots of other stuff. 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.080 But they you know, so if you were able to 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:47.440 put a massive enough object close enough to the asteroid, 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:49.879 you could alter its pathway. There is there are some 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:54.320 problems with the gravity tractor, really. Yeah. One of them 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:55.960 is that you have to figure out are a well, 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.680 you want the gravity tractor to pull the asteroid away 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:01.520 from the path of collision. You don't want the asteroid 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:04.320 to pull the gravity tractor into the path of collision. 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.159 So so that means that you would have to have 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:10.679 some sort of propulsion system aboard the gravity tractor to 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:15.040 make little course corrections and continue to gently pull the 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:17.919 asteroid out of its pathway. Well, if you have propulsion, 0:22:18.040 --> 0:22:20.680 then there's the possibility of that propulsion that you're going 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:24.480 to when you fire your rockets to to give it 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:28.040 a boost that forced me push against the asteroid, thus 0:22:28.080 --> 0:22:31.359 negating the gravity pull that you are exerting upon it. 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:36.520 So essentially you're getting a net zero result because that 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:38.760 you're you're pulling it out with gravity, but you're pushing 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:41.360 on it with your propulsion system. So finding a way 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:45.440 where you could create some sort of gravity tractor where 0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:49.840 the propulsion system would not actually push against the asteroid 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:52.959 itself is would be part of the solution. Plus this 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:55.960 would be really really expensive. It's a much more costly 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:01.080 approach and not necessarily uh the most easy to implement 0:23:01.560 --> 0:23:05.000 compared to other approaches. So I don't know that this 0:23:05.040 --> 0:23:08.720 is necessarily likely to happen. I mean, if if enough 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:10.639 research goes into it where it proves that this is 0:23:10.680 --> 0:23:15.639 the most effective way, then sure I can see it happening, 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:17.679 just because people would finally say all right, well you 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.520 know we have to invest in it, because we can't 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:25.879 we can't just play roulette all our existence. We have 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:28.880 to prepare for this, But I would imagine that we'd 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:34.160 probably go with some other route before we tried this one. Yeah. 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:37.960 An article I read suggested that the the gravity tractor 0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:42.760 would have to be at least twenty tons in order 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:46.720 to safely to you know, effectively to I should say, 0:23:46.720 --> 0:23:51.639 not safely effectively to an asteroid away from the Earth. Um, 0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:55.720 And I can't you know, I just imagine that's going 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.760