As we await word of the successor to the Extraordinary Ordinary, we have some related news.
From Inquisitr:
Large Asteroid Packing 50 Megatons Of Force Might Come Crashing Down On Earth In 2023 — And That’s Not All
While the news can be understandably overwhelming, NASA sources state that the Earth is in no actual danger.
A large asteroid could be headed toward us in the near future — barreling through space on a risk trajectory that might cause it to collide with Earth.
The news comes from the Express, which cites NASA sources revealing that the space rock could end up engaged in not one, but a staggering 62 different potential impact trajectories with our planet — each of them waiting to sling the asteroid toward Earth over the next 100 years.
Known as asteroid 2018 LF16, the space rock was last observed by our astronomers on June 16 — notes NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) — who calculated its orbit and its potential to become a threat to our planet. The calculations showed asteroid 2018 LF16 could collide with our planet on 62 different dates between now and 2117.
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This tool could be helpful for those wishing to explore what it would mean if it hit the planet :
https://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEarth/cgi-bin/crater.cgi
According to the Wikipedia reference the latest orbital refinements leaves us safe – at least from this rock.
Just a suggestion, and NASA is a fine agency, but someone might also consider recruiting, training, and deploying laser-armed door-gunners for DoD’s Space Force.
What about funding, equipment, and, if our defenses come to naught, FEMA? Ah, good questions. Memoranda, meetings, and testing continues.
A June 2018 article, it looks like ARM is Out and DART is In:
https://www.space.com/40943-nasa-asteroid-defense-plan.html
https://science.howstuffworks.com/asteroid-nuclear-bomb1.htm
Two articles about DoD lasers. The first on a 2014 test by the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf.
“Klunder put the actual cost at closer to 59 cents per shot, which he contrasted to a standard missile, which can start at $750,000 but reach up to $2 million per unit.”
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/12/navy-tests-super-precise-laser-weapon-persian-gulf/100929/
The second article, more of an editorial, is from this month. Table A-1 shows beam power required for various targets. Of course, asteroids are another level.
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/11/us-needs-megawatt-class-combat-lasers-to-counter-hypersonic-missiles.html/amp
“The calculations showed asteroid 2018 LF16 could collide with our planet on 62 different dates between now and 2117.”
Well, that seems a bit unkind. I mean, colliding with us once seems a reasonable thing to do, but 62 times? That’s just mean.