Originally published December 8 2005
Two NASA astronauts devise anti-asteroid plan
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
NASA astronauts Edward Lu and Stanley Love have suggested sending a huge rocket to "tow" away threatening objects using gravity. A 20-ton rocket could deflect a 200m asteroid in about a year.
The US spacemen Edward Lu and Stanley Love propose sending up a huge rocket to "tow" away any such objects.
Their vehicle would simply hover over the asteroid and use gravity as a "towline" to move it out of danger.
A 20-tonne craft could safely deflect an asteroid 200m across in about a year of such "towing", Lu and Love report in the journal Nature.
Scientists believe that if an asteroid this size collided with the planet, it would cause widespread damage and loss of life.
Various rescue strategies have been proposed, many of which have found their way into Hollywood movies.
Lu and Love believe that it would be extremely difficult to attach a spacecraft to the surface of such a rough and rocky body to push on it directly.
They argue that a spacecraft could simply use the gravitational attraction between itself and the asteroid to gently pull the hazardous object onto a safe trajectory.
The probe's thrusters would be angled away from the asteroid's surface so that they did not reduce the towing force.
The idea is being featured in a new exhibition at London's Science Museum.
"This is a tremendously exciting idea that isn't from a Hollywood scriptwriter or a theoretical scientist," exhibition developer Rebecca Richards said.
"It's real science from an experienced astronaut who could be transforming a simple scientific principle into an experiment of global importance."
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml