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A comment on If We Blow Up an Asteroid, It Might Put Itself Back Together.

Re:If We Blow Up an Asteroid, It Might Put Itself Back Together by lisper on Saturday March 09, 2019 @05:43AM (#19345559)
The best way to prevent an asteroid from hitting the earth is not to blow it up but to deflect it using a solar powered gravity tractor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_tractor

https://b612foundation.org

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Re:If We Blow Up an Asteroid, It Might Put Itself Back Together by sandworm101 on Saturday March 09, 2019 @01:05PM (#19347465)
Or a solar mirror, from afar, to divert it using light. Gravity tractors arent easy. They need fuel and there are exhaust issues that limit performance (exhaust has to miss the rock). A bunch of big mirrors can impart energy/motion without having to stay in a paticular position.
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Re:If We Blow Up an Asteroid, It Might Put Itself Back Together by lisper on Saturday March 09, 2019 @01:44PM (#19347716)
Do you have a reference? Has someone actually done an analysis? I've never heard of this idea before, and offhand it seems impractical. I think you'd have all the same problems that you have with a tractor, plus a few extras.

You're right that gravity tractors aren't easy. Nothing is easy in space.

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