Fans Get Even Page 7

Quote: DaButt @ March 4 2009, 11:56 AM GMT

They have a lot of ballistic missiles gathering dust ...

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I'd have thought the range of an ICBM would have been too small to get a nuke(s) to explode far enough away for it to have any effect on trajectory (if any). Either that or the standard US procedure for imminent meteor impact is to nuke Russia (just in case the meteor misses Moscow).

But I take your point and it teaches me not to stick my tongue out at people in public... yet again.

Quote: chipolata @ March 4 2009, 11:58 AM GMT

America's old news. We'll soon be looking to China to save us if an asteroid heads this way.

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By shielding the earth beneath a miles' deep layer of cheap white-consumer-product imports?

Quote: chipolata @ March 4 2009, 11:58 AM GMT

America's old news. We'll soon be looking to China to save us if an asteroid heads this way.

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Standing on top of each others' shoulders.

Quote: SlagA @ March 4 2009, 1:11 PM GMT

I'd have thought the range would have been too small to get a nuke(s) to explode far enough away for the deflection to have any effect on trajectory (if any).

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It would be a kludge at best. I think the missiles can reach into space, but they aren't designed to spend extended periods of time in the harsh environment of space. I think they could probably conjure up a last-minute desperation mission in a couple of weeks. It should be noted that the near-miss the other day was a very small object and it happens practically daily. We should have much more warning if the object were massive enough to cause catastrophic damage.

Quote: chipolata @ March 4 2009, 11:58 AM GMT

America's old news. We'll soon be looking to China to save us if an asteroid heads this way.

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They're still playing catchup as far as space goes. They just got around to putting a man in space; the Soviets and Americans did it almost 50 years ago. Then there's the fact that China's warheads and rockets are based upon designs and research stolen from the U.S.A.

Quote: DaButt @ March 4 2009, 2:21 PM GMT

They're still playing catchup as far as space goes. They just got around to putting a man in space; the Soviets and Americans did it almost 50 years ago. Then there's the fact that China's warheads and rockets are based upon designs and research stolen from the U.S.A.

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Yes, but if they all jump up in the air and land at the same time, America will be engulfed by a tidal wave.

Quote: chipolata @ March 4 2009, 2:25 PM GMT

Yes, but if they all jump up in the air and land at the same time, America will be engulfed by a tidal wave.

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And all their buildings will collapse due to the earthquake. Their building standards don't seem to be too strict.

Quote: DaButt @ March 4 2009, 2:21 PM GMT

It should be noted that the near-miss the other day was a very small object and it happens practically daily.

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Not at that distance and size it doesn't as far as I know. It was only roughly twice the distance away as some of our satellites.

And yes it was small as asteroids go - but it was still the size of a ten storey building. If it had struck a populated area travelling at that speed, the blast would've been similar in size to the 1908 rock that exploded over Siberia, flattening 80 million trees over 800 square miles. Millions could have died.

Quote: DaButt @ March 4 2009, 2:33 PM GMT

And all their buildings will collapse due to the earthquake. Their building standards don't seem to be too strict.

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Rather like American building standards when it comes to levee building. Especially when said levees are only their to protect poor black people.

Quote: Lee Henman @ March 4 2009, 2:36 PM GMT

Not at that distance and size it doesn't as far as I know. It was only roughly twice the distance away as some of our satellites.

And yes it was small as asteroids go - but it was still the size of a ten storey building. If it had struck a populated area travelling at that speed, the blast would've been similar in size to the 1908 rock that exploded over Siberia, flattening 80 million trees over 800 square miles. Millions could have died.

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Say the astronomer who discovered the asteroid: "It's not something to worry about, but something to be aware of."

I read an interview with another astronomer who said that objects pass between the orbit of the moon and Earth almost daily. It's not that unusual of an event.

Quote: chipolata @ March 4 2009, 2:52 PM GMT

Rather like American building standards when it comes to levee building. Especially when said levees are only their to protect poor black people.

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You should probably get your information from sources other than politicians and their talking points.

Quote: DaButt @ March 4 2009, 3:37 PM GMT

You should probably get your information from sources other than politicians and their talking points.

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Why, was that one of the things George Bush was saying when it happened?