Science: Many have proposed the anti-asteroid solutions involve knocking them off-course, which carries its own problems that is, what if you create a fragment that hits Earth regardless of its off setting the Astroids path?
Researchers might have a safer solution but they’ve proposed a system spotted by Parabolic Arc, that would tether a threatening asteroid to a smaller rock, throwing off the larger body’s centre of mass and steering it away from our home-world. As the method only involves a giant cable, it wouldn’t risk cracking an object into pieces.
The scientists couldn’t test this in real life, of course, so they used a simulated version of Bennu to see how well their idea would work. It’s viable for protecting the planet in a range of conditions, the team said.
There are catches. You need a small asteroid in the first place, of course. Moreover, this requires considerably more time to implement than smacking an asteroid with a spacecraft or projectile.
It would work well with a coordinated detection and response system, but might take too much time if observers are caught off-guard. It’s another tool in the arsenal, though, and it may be necessary when it’s likely just a matter of when an asteroid enters a collision course, not if.
Mitchell Landsberg is the senior reporter for News Raise and focuses on Technology. Mitchell regularly writes about social media platforms and how influencers, industry and general people use them to communicate and make money.