NASA: Bring on the asteroid, so we can chuck a fridge at it NASA has okayed one of its save-the-world-from-asteroids proposals to move to the preliminary design phase, on the way to a hoped-for launch early in the 2020s. If it goes ahead, the DART – Double Asteroid Redirection Test – will start with what the space agency describes as “a non-threatening small asteroid”. That way, …
7. The fridge, being an intelligent IoT device, will notice that it needs to stock up on fresh milk, but since there is no Wifi connection in the asteroid belt it will fail to connect to Walmart and subsequently the control system crashes with an unexpected error. The thrusters therefore fail to fire, and the fridge crashes back to Earth.
Damn right it does - DART brings to the binary additional momentum and angular momentum so the system total changes and consequently its orbit around the sun changes! Maybe not by a lot but it is still a change. So either Tom Statler was misquoted or the word "significantly" was dropped.
I don't believe that a scientist can make such a high school physics mistake
Conservation of energy & momentum. Right. It will change the orbit of the pair. What the scientist probably tried to explain was that this test won't “change the orbit of the pair around the sun” by a measurable amount.
This statement is probably just meant to reassure all that this test will not drop a stone on anyone's head.
Ok.. so this "test" changes it's orbit and not for the good.... The next time it comes around, NASA will have the real thing fired at it. Hopefully with the orbital mechanics sorted out...
I do wonder why no one asked Mr. Statler the obvious question in response to his answer: "Would you stake your life on that statement?".
Yes.
To estimate the effect: Imagine firing a shell against a 2km high mountain for comparison.
This kind of test will change the combined orbit o the binary maybe by a few dozen meters. Given the average distance to earth is a few 100 million km and the way orbital mechanics work, the chance of impact is changed from zero to zero.
"I do wonder why no one asked Mr. Statler the obvious question in response to his answer: "Would you stake your life on that statement?"."
The obvious answer is to paraphrase Homer Simpsons on this:
"I am 100% absolutely certain that this is what will happen. If I'm wrong may we all be horribly crushed from above somehow."
(According to Wiki - Simpsons Season 6, Episode 14, "Bart's comet - ~1995)
If you're going to be really pedantic, then just walking across the room will alter the shape of the Earth's gravitational field, which will alter the motion of everything in the solar system.
Not by a measurable amount though, and certainly less than the change in the course of the asteroid(s) caused by the high powered radar they're presumably going to shine at it to pin down it's position (which in itself probably won't make a measurable difference).
Die regte term is "in sy moer in"
But yes, they'll have to arrange for Zupta and Co to be present at Nkandla when the rock comes crashing down.
And to satisfy PETA, the chicken coop (and cattle kraal) be relocated to a safe location prior to impact.
Fire pool can remain, it'll just add a lot of steam to the inferno.
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