Flying 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.
The announcement came after a team at the University of Glasgow compared nine different methods of deflecting near earth objects - asteroids and comets.
A 100m asteroid hits the earth roughly every century.
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.
The team found that the orbit of an asteroid 150m across could be sufficiently modified by a swarm of 100 mirrors in a few days.
For an asteroid on the scale of that which is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs, a 5,000-strong fleet of spacecraft would need to focus a beam on the surface for three or more years.
"With only 10 spacecraft flying in formation, each with a 20m mirror, we could deflect a similar size asteroid into a safe orbit in about six months.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7029650.stm
No comments:
Post a Comment