Russia to knock away asteroid

[Brycesv1]

They want to spend millions of dollars to do something that probably wont make any difference... and yet i am not surprised http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_russia_asteroid_encounter

 

[SiberianTiger]

Russia is to knock away Anatoly Perminov, sooner or later.

 

[willy88]

No Russia, no!

 

[tl8]

hmm, I would say that is not a wise move.

I highly suspect that they will make things worse and not better, why not try on something that isn't close to hitting earth.

 

[mjessick]

Demonstrating the ability to steer it also demonstrates the ability to weaponize it. Anyone know if Apophis has any Lithium-7?

 

[Ark]

Don't their Progresses still get looted by ground crews before launch? Didn't Mir get a hole punched in it because they wanted to save money on automated docking systems by making the station crew do it? Wasn't their space program reduced to milking rich Americans for the money to keep flying?

I honestly doubt they can accomplish any of the things they've been announcing lately.

 

[Enjo]

Without mentioning NASA's conclusions, Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032," Perminov said.

That sums it up.

 

[Andy44]

Now I'm not one to put faith in government agencies, but even from my cynical viewpoint I would think that if this rock was a real threat to the earth than NASA would be beating the war drums in Congress louder than ever. Saving the human race would be a great excuse for an agency to ask for more money. In fact, I would think they'd ask for a blank check, and maybe even get it, Apollo-style.

So if NASA and other space agencies aren't making a huge deal out of this then I have to doubt the danger. It's a bureaucrat's dream.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Don't their Progresses still get looted by ground crews before launch?

Are there any facts supporting this specific claim? It's the first time I hear about something like this.

Didn't Mir get a hole punched in it because they wanted to save money on automated docking systems by making the station crew do it?

Remote manual control docking is a routine procedure. That time, it merely was miscontrolled.

Wasn't their space program reduced to milking rich Americans for the money to keep flying?

Hey, do you think there's something wrong about Capitalism? How dare you?..

---------- Post added at 11:10 ---------- Previous post was at 11:08 ----------

hmm, I would say that is not a wise move.

I highly suspect that they will make things worse and not better, why not try on something that isn't close to hitting earth.

Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen, except possibly retirement of one drunken idiot.

 

[Ark]

Are there any facts supporting this specific claim? It's the first time I hear about something like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Linenger

Some Kazakhstani dude got into his personal goods before a Progress flight and stole some stuff. Maybe "looting on the launch pad" is excessive, but they don't even have the professionalism to keep their cargo from getting jacked before it makes it to orbit.

Remote manual control docking is a routine procedure. That time, it merely was miscontrolled.

There was a lot more to it than the official "operator error" story, specifically that the guy attempting it had to deal with equipment malfunctions and a total lack of training or simulation. Not to mention the whole point of the operation was to justify getting rid of the optical guidance system because their space program was so broke they couldn't afford to keep buying them.

Hey, do you think there's something wrong about Capitalism? How dare you?.

Only when it's dressed up as international cooperation, and actual cooperation and sharing of information is shoved under the rug in favor of lies and manipulation to keep the money flowing.

Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen, except possibly retirement of one drunken idiot.

I have a feeling there are a lot more than one drunken idiots running the Russian Space Program.

 

[tl8]

<sarcasm>It is a pity that Russia will be the only way for NASA to get humans into space after the shuttle retires... </sarcasm>

 

[Sky Captain]

Sometimes I wish we detect a sizable (too large to be deflected with small probe) asteorid with 100 % collision probability. At least it would force us to start doing something serious in space.

 

[garyw]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Linenger

Lineger had issues on Mir. He basically broken down and suffered from depression. I'm not sure I buy the "Russians looting progress" story and if it's coming from Linenger then I'm especially dubious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Linenger
There was a lot more to it than the official "operator error" story, specifically that the guy attempting it had to deal with equipment malfunctions and a total lack of training or simulation. Not to mention the whole point of the operation was to justify getting rid of the optical guidance system because their space program was so broke they couldn't afford to keep buying them.

Pretty much true. Russia wanted to try out the manual docking process so they wouldn't have to buy the very expensive KURS system from the Ukranians. Overnight, all of thier space facilities went from being in Russia to being in a remote country and suddenly they had to pay for access.

 

[RisingFury]

Demonstrating the ability to steer it also demonstrates the ability to weaponize it. Anyone know if Apophis has any Lithium-7?

We can only guess it's mass and therefore density, but it's unlikelly that larget concentrations will be present.

 

[Ark]

Lineger had issues on Mir. He basically broken down and suffered from depression.

In his defense, I would too if I was stuck in a tin can full of rotting garbage that periodically tried to kill me for 5 months. :lol:

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Linenger

Some Kazakhstani dude got into his personal goods before a Progress flight and stole some stuff. Maybe "looting on the launch pad" is excessive, but they don't even have the professionalism to keep their cargo from getting jacked before it makes it to orbit.

Did you say Jerry Linenger? The worst personality guy who ever went to space? Okay, even if his report on something that happened once back in 1997 is true, it's not a reason to use present simple tense yet (or was it a passive tense? hmm)

There was a lot more to it than the official "operator error" story, specifically that the guy attempting it had to deal with equipment malfunctions and a total lack of training or simulation. Not to mention the whole point of the operation was to justify getting rid of the optical guidance system because their space program was so broke they couldn't afford to keep buying them.

What's an optical guidance system you mean? If you still mean Kurs, our space program is now quite able to produce Kurs kits themselves (actually, at 2 km away from my home). BTW, did you hear that poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is?

Only when it's dressed up as international cooperation, and actual cooperation and sharing of information is shoved under the rug in favor of lies and manipulation to keep the money flowing.

Can't see a point here. Just a grudge over something. Hey, what if I recall why the FGB had to be launched into an orbit with a LAN so much different from the Mir's? Let's not pile this on, ok?

I have a feeling there are a lot more than one drunken idiots running the Russian Space Program.

Yeah, you are entitled to have feelings.

 

[Suzy]

Lineger had issues on Mir. He basically broken down and suffered from depression. I'm not sure I buy the "Russians looting progress" story and if it's coming from Linenger then I'm especially dubious.

I have Linengar's autobiography and I don't think it's the most reliable account as he is very self-aggrandizing! (He is portrayed very differently in [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dragonfly-Adventure-Survival-Outer-Space/dp/0060932694/"]Dragonfly[/ame].)

Regarding asteroid deflection, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov had a proposal a few years ago of deflecting one using a gamma laser.

 

[JamesG]

As deflecting it isn't likely to be necessary (or wise) how about the rhetorical possibility of capturing it into orbit? Perhaps parking it at a L point?



Rhetorical because it will never be doable. Even if its ever "practical" it will never be permitted, can you imagine trying to get insurance underwriting? A few billion in metals parked at a relatively convenient location vs. THE WORLD???!?

 

[Sky Captain]

IIRC Apophis will do Earth flyby in 2029 at a distance of about 35000 km with velocity of 17 km/s. You would have do decelerate it by over 10 km/s to get Earth gravity to capture it. It would recquire some gigantic Atomic Rocket to do it in a single impulse burn. More realistic option would be to send a large automated spacecraft with big VASIMR engine to dock with asteorid (possible only if it`s not spinning) and gradually over the course of several years change it`s orbit in a way that it would recquire only small final push to get it captured by Earth.

 

[Hielor]

As deflecting it isn't likely to be necessary (or wise) how about the rhetorical possibility of capturing it into orbit? Perhaps parking it at a L point?



Rhetorical because it will never be doable. Even if its ever "practical" it will never be permitted, can you imagine trying to get insurance underwriting? A few billion in metals parked at a relatively convenient location vs. THE WORLD???!?

Black text is unreadable on many forum skins. I'm sure that what you said was interesting, but I can't read it.