In reply to Jed Rothwell's message of Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:39:59 -0500: Hi, [snip] >Interesting new approach: > ><http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/asteroid-deflection-tether/>http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/asteroid-deflection-tether/ > > > >This proposal has attracted some really stupid comments from people >who are not thinking the matter thorough, including Russell >Schweickart, I am sorry to say. > >Note my comment at the end: > > >The billions of pounds of material would not have to be brought from >earth. It would be right there, at the asteroid. Cut a chunk out of >it, connect it to the rest by tether, job done.
Unfortunately this method would not change the centre of mass of the asteroid, and hence would have no effect. In fact you can blow the thing to smithereens and the centre of mass of all the pieces doesn't change. If the original was on a collision course, then the pieces still would be. The advantage is only in that smaller pieces are more likely to burn up in the atmosphere so that they don't reach the ground. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
