Sunday, October 07, 2007

Mirrors 'could deflect' asteroids

Mirrors tackling an asteroid

From BBC News

Orbital mirrors could save earth from a catastrophic asteroid collision, researchers have claimed. Up to 5,000 mirrors would be used to focus a beam of sunlight on to the asteroid, melting the rock and altering its orbital path away from earth. Orbiting mirrors would be used to focus sunlight on an area of the asteroid - heating the rock to around 2,100 degrees Celsius. This would create a thrust which would nudge the asteroid off course. An asteroid 150m across could be sufficiently modified by a swarm of 100 mirrors in a few days.

Thanks to Shaun Saunders for the post

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