Shape of things to comePreventing future Deep Impact
The recent shooting down of a dysfunctional U.S. satellite, let alone the damage that a large asteroid would inflict if allowed to hit Earth, highlight the need to prevent natural or man-made space objects from doing damage on Earth; nine Israeli science students offer a solution
Planetary — and interplanetary — security are also homeland security. In the movie “Deep Impact” (1998) two asteroids are hurtling toward Earth. Robert Duvall valiantly sacrifices himself and the life of his spaceship crew in the successful effort to destroy the larger of the two asteroids — an asteroid so large that were it to hit Earth, it would have put an end to all human, animal, and plant life. The smaller of the two asteroids does hit Earth, causing a wave of destruction from the east coast to the Midwest. Nine students from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology want to make sure that a future U.S. president would not have to face the kind of fateful choices President Tom Beck (played in the movie by Morgan Freeman) had to face. So they have developed a model spacecraft for deflecting objects falling from space. The model has been created in response to the asteroid Apophis which scientists believe will collide with Earth in 2036, and was presented at a competition of NASA and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The initial plan would put the craft into space in 2020 when it will approach the asteroid and launch two penetrating devices. These will deliver equipment including a specially adapted camera, transmitter, and antenna. Air bags will be used to safely deliver the equipment and also will be attached with solar panels to power the equipment. The equipment will collect data on the location and composition of the asteroid and relay it back to Earth. If needed the spacecraft can again approach the asteroid in 2025 to divert the asteroid from its path using the gravitational pull of the spacecraft. The asteroid will pass the Earth in 2029 before returning in 2036 and the team aim to change the path of the asteroid during this pass.
According to Dr. Alexander Kogan, who guided the students, the craft will use its ion thrusters to hover 200-300 meters from the asteroid for four months. Using the mass of the spacecraft, combined with the effect of Earth’s gravity, the craft will pull the asteroid out of its previous path. “The spacecraft is what will make the difference,” said student Lior Avital. “It will divert the asteroid one kilometer and with the help of the Earth, in seven years — 7,000 km.”
Alternatives such as blasting the asteroid with a nuclear bomb were also considered, but the group believed the danger posed by two large asteroids or many small ones would be much greater. Diverting the asteroid by connecting powerful motors to it was also ruled out as the solution was deemed too expensive and complicated.
