• Cybrpwca@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    1 year ago

    Good news: smaller pieces burn up much easier in the atmosphere, so in the case of an actual asteroid deflection it’s still a net gain.

    Bad news: more potential navigation hazards.

    I think that’s a fair trade.

    • FaceDeer@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 year ago

      Also, dispersing the boulders early enough means that most of them would miss Earth anyway.

      I wouldn’t really consider them navigation hazards, space is really big and boulders are really small. You’d have to aim a probe really precisely at one in order to hit it.

    • Declamatie
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      We won’t have to use this defense mechanism very often anyway. Fingers crossed.

  • RoboRay@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Well, it is still better to get hit with a dozen Hiroshima-nuke-scale impacts than a single dinosaur-killer-scale impact.

    Statistically, the majority of them should hit ocean anyway.