Astronomers determine Asteroid Apophis will hit the Earth

[Ashimar]

http://asteroidapophis.com/

its the end of the world as we know it
and i feel fine.

[Goobles]

Good.

[azeth]

I think one of the more feasible and interesting ideas about how to deter it is launching a Ion driven orbiter to attach itself to it in 2029, the gravity from the satellite if pulling in the right direction would be enough to deter the 2036 course.

[muddy27]

You got alot more to worry about in the forseeable future, not some asteroid 15 years off or whatever the time frame is.

[azeth]

Originally Posted by muddy27 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You got alot more to worry about in the forseeable future, not some asteroid 15 years off or whatever the time frame is.

On the contrary, Apophis visiting near-Earth standard in 2029 and 2036 is analogous to warnings the American economy has received 10-15 years prior to the current financial crisis we're experiencing. If anything I think preemptively conquering this problem would provide precedent for future changes to the way we spend, eat, etc.

[Omnimorph]

I hear the vah shir live on Apophis... personally i think we should blow it up :3

[Aarone]

Originally Posted by Omnimorph [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I hear the vah shir live on Apophis... personally i think we should blow it up :3

Best idea I've heard all day!

[Atern]

We just need Bruce Willis and his deep core drilling team.

[DoucLangur]

Sheesh - what a bullcrap.

Article says "within 18000 miles" - that's roughly 29000 kilometres. earth radius is about 6450 km (including atmosphere). Divide the area of a circle with radius 29000 km by the "to hit" area: pi*R² / (pi*r²) and you get a rough chance for a hit of 1 in 20. While that is enough to be worried about, it is hardly a "will hit".

[Itchybottom]

It's not going to thread the key hole. It'll come close though.