Bold new Ideas & Problem Solving with free Advice

We are in the fortunate situation that the outer planets in our solar system, particularly Jupiter, are so large. Why? Because they already capture some asteroids, comets and meteoroids from the outer space by gravity pull before they can reach the region of the inner planets including earth and before they can hit us and cause incredible damage.

Our atmosphere also protects us to a certain degree, but only from smaller meteoroids from space. Because of our relative safety, life on earth and with it mankind has had a chance to evolve to the current level.

However, from time to time a larger asteroid gets through and hits our planet with devastating effects, the destruction it causes depending on its size. E.g. an asteroid came down over Siberia about 100 years ago, believed to have a diameter of 60-70m. It destroyed thousands of square miles forest, some indications of it still being found. It could have entirely destroyed and levelled a large city and the country around it.

In comparison, an asteroid of 1km diameter has a mass of about 3,000 times as much, and the mass of one with a diameter of 10km is about 3,000,000 times as large! Such a rock can easily wipe out whole mankind and most of the animal species when it hits earth, as it happened about 65 million years ago with the dinosaurs and other animals.

The bigger the asteroid, the more important is its early detection. Very big rocks of about 5-10km diameter need to be detected years before coming close to earth for having any success of sufficient deflection to prevent it colliding with earth. If the speed of the asteroid is 30 miles (~50km) per second and a space ship from earth to meet it travels with 15 miles (~25km) per second, then the asteroid has already reduced its distance to earth (if approaching directly) to a third before encounter! Taking the preparation time for launching the space ship into account, it would be even closer.

Some scientists now agree that it will probably be better not to destroy but just to deflect a large asteroid, in order not to get many smaller rocks, which are then difficult to control.

Will it happen again? This not a question of if but when. Maybe in thousands of years but perhaps already in our lifetime – nobody knows at present. Even if the possibility for a big asteroid hitting earth in the near future were just one in a million, the odds for this are still too high to be comfortable, considering the terrible consequences!

Can we do anything about it? Not much, but there is still a chance. We could avert the catastrophe more easily, if we developed space travel further. That’s why I am strongly in favour of space travel – to give mankind a chance to survive in the long term.

But space travel alone is not enough; we must do more! Below I will outline some brief ideas and concepts (if not yet thought of) about what I think can be done and - if so - how to do it to deal with this problem. I would be happy to help anybody with providing more ideas and concepts including preparing a detailed plan to my ability as described on my web page World Problems .

Ideas and concepts for solving the problem

1. Use Moon for further watching points

1. Erect at least two observatories with pre-fabricated parts in areas of the moon poles (because of smaller temperature fluctuations here). Advantages: Only one sixth of earth gravity and no atmosphere, obstructing the view.

2. Combine and use the moon telescopes in conjunction with the Hubble telescope and the telescopes on Earth to watch the sky for approaching asteroids. This very large viewing base will help with early detection and with quickly determining the distance and the precise course of the asteroid.

3. Make a comprehensive register of all visible space rocks that could endanger earth during this century. They should be constantly monitored.

4. Also use lasers from Moon (because of greater hitting accuracy) for calculating the exact distance of an approaching asteroid.

2. Prepare for deflection

1. Research the best deflection methods (perhaps with help from computer modelling) for asteroids of different sizes.

2. Try out these methods in the field and/or in space with smaller models including the rockets or space ships as carriers.

3. Build provisional production factories for them.

Note: The above points should be carried out even before a dangerous asteroid is in sight. Later there may not be enough time for it!

3. Deflect the asteroid

1. For long distances using an unmanned space ship might be more suitable, since it can carry with the same rockets a greater load of gear at a higher speed.

2. The deflection mechanism (e.g. a propulsion system) should install itself on the rock, perhaps with help of robots.
3. Alternatively, a machine, installed on the asteroid, could take some matter from the rock and eject it over a longer time period, causing the asteroid to move (even very slowly) in the opposite direction. This has the advantage that no extra fuel has to be carried by the space ship, only perhaps for operating the machine.
4. The space ship should stay nearby to monitor the operation and the grade of deflection.

5. Other unmanned space ships (or even a manned one) should be ready as back-up in case of an initial failure.

4. Destroy the asteroid

1. If the approaching rock is small enough and the resulting debris can burn up in our atmosphere, it might be simpler and more straightforward to destroy it.

2. This can be done with rockets and explosive devices or with powerful lasers. (NASA may already have thought about this.)

3. If the asteroid is still far away, using lasers for destruction from space or from our moon may be more successful, since they can be more accurate because of the missing atmosphere.