From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Thu Jul 25 2002 - 17:49:06 MDT
On 25 Jul 2002 at 23:39, Andy Brice wrote:
>
>
> > On 25 Jul 2002 at 22:05, Andy Brice wrote:
> >
> > > Time to start dusting off those plans for Orion*?
> > >
> > > Andy Brice
> > >
> > > *the nuclear bomb powered space craft designed in the 50's, able to
> carry
> > > huge payloads and achieve very respectable velocities.
> > >
> > To where? (the answer 'anywhere but here' will not suffice).
>
> Actually I meant as a platform to deliver a number of collossal H-bombs to
> the asteroid/meteorite. I would have thought that a few hundred megatons
> would be enough to divert it or blow up into small enough pieces that they
> would mostly burn up in the atmosphere.
>
As fast as it's moving, we would need to launch very early (to allow
chunks to directionally diverge so that its momentum would not 'shotgun
spray' us too badly), and still achieve a great deal of precision (it's only
1.2 miles across, but that's still a lotta rock, especially travelling as fast
as it is).
>
> Andy Brice
>
>
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