Fireworks Likely When NASA Blows Up Comet

What is that saying about butterflies flapping their wings and hurricanes...?

Just what if this one comet is what is keeping all the great big old earth destroying asteroids out of our path?

I'm only kidding... kind of...

Absolutely incredible, the things they can do. Makes me wish i was that smart.

I can see it now.

These guys shoot the missle to blow this thing up then realize that it isn't made of what is suppose to be made of. Meanwhile the "bullet" sends it on a new trajectory right into the path of the earth.

Boom!!!

We are being dug up by the next species that dominates the earth in oh 100 million years and talked about as the species that died because of an astroid collision.

Friggin great.

That would be so ironic if that happened. I read about this story in my newspaper yesterday.
Do we really have to behave like kids with fireworks out there? To see what it's made of? C'mon, there should be a better way to collect a sample or something. I'm honestly thinking they're getting scared of the asteroids that are going to be passing by. Not that I blame them, but how do you know that shooting targets out in space isn't screwing with something we shouldn't? Maybe there is a natural order of things out there. Isn't destroying our own planet slowly enough for us humans? Just airing on the side of caution.

P.S. It's strange this should be happening on the 4th, 'cause every year at that time I get the feeling something bad is going to haappen. This feeling started shortly after the terrorist attacks. I don't know why though...

Asteroids are predictable, calm. We can predict their projectory for decades.

Comets are dangerous. We could only have a warning of as little as a few days before one struck us. And do you think anyone would publicize that? Heck, no.

But on a calming note, we are about in the middle(time wise) between mass extinctions(that most scientist attribute to collisions from heavenly bodies with the Earth). Ignore the sensational websites out there.

So we are "most likely" pretty ok. The possibility that a major impact will happen with the Earth for the next million years(much less our lifetimes) is very small.

And imagine what we will be able to do in One thousand years, much less a Million years. We are already preparing defenses against asteroid/comet hits.

I will put my money that we will destroy the Earth and kill ourselves before a comet does.

Watcher74 said:

I will put my money that we will destroy the Earth and kill ourselves before a comet does.

Click to expand...

Oh, well that removes my fears... /sarcasm

Odds against a strike are remote for another reason... we've allready BEEN hit by most of the heavy stuff on intersecting orbits over the past billion years or so. Of course, orbital mechanics are chaotic... but the odds are still pretty good.

Blowing the comet up probably won't affect it's orbit all THAT much (believe it or not lol). An 820 lb probe isn't going to affect the momentum of a comet the size of manhatten all that much. Heck, the thing probably takes asteroid strikes of bigger size every year.