FaufiffonFec t1_itmpai6 wrote
Reply to comment by MankindsError in Deflecting asteroids is not enough — we need to know when they approach by burtzev
> Now that we know its entirely possible to deflect.
I don't think that the DART mission has shown that we have the ability to deflect a large asteroid.
If a planet killer shows up, we're dead.
JBLeafturn t1_itn0j9n wrote
Planet killers are pretty easy to catch, though. Large bodies like that reflect more light. They've been mapped out and a planet killer is less that 1 in 12 billion chance in the next 100 years. The gap we have right now is bodies around 80-180M which would impact with the force of a few nuclear bombs, but are not enough to end civilization. It wouldn't be great if one of those hit, but it wouldn't end humanity. That's why DART was so important, it showed that we can give bodies in that range a pretty good shove in a short period of time.
https://neo.ssa.esa.int/risk-list
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-very-real-effort-to-track-killer-asteroids-and-comets-180979206/
Bensemus t1_itr9yuf wrote
It 100% did. Any impact on any body will move it. The greater the difference between the two objects the less change there will be.
With a planet killer asteroid it will be much larger so a DART sized craft will change its orbit much less but it will still change it. So for such an asteroid we ether need to hit it years out for that tiny change to have time to propagate or we hit it with something with more energy.
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