Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua covered in 'thick crust of carbon-rich gunk'

Re:Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua covered in 'thick crust of ... by theandrewbailey on Monday December 18, 2017 @03:50PM (#15955367)

Knowing it's trajectory and throwing something at it fast enough are two very different things. There's no planets between here and there that we could sling-shot off of. Even if there were, we don't have anything to send out to it.

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Re:Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua covered in 'thick crust of ... by astrodust on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @12:20AM (#15957959)

You can slingshot off of anything in any direction if you can compute your exit vector correctly. A couple of loops between the Earth and Moon and you could pick up enough speed to get anywhere you want.

The trouble is computing these trajectories is pretty tricky and if you get even one manouver wrong you crater or burn up in the atmosphere.

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Re:Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua covered in 'thick crust of ... by txmx2017 on Monday December 18, 2017 @09:51PM (#15957355)

If it’s traveling too fast for us to intercept it, it’s location is irrelevant.

If our craft can accelerate fast enough to intercet it, it’s position is still irrelevant since we know it’s trajectory.

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Re:Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua covered in 'thick crust of ... by edejong on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @02:14AM (#15958367)

Hate to be grammar police, but 3x it’s -> its. Can read over it once, but the third time becomes annoying.

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