AN Australian researcher has won an international prize for her plan to wrap a giant asteroid with reflective sheeting to stop it colliding with the earth and destroying all life.
Such an impact would have the force of 110,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs if the asteroid, which actually exists, hits the planet in 2036, said Mary D'Souza, a PhD student with the University of Queensland's School of Engineering.
Far from being daunted by the prospect of global annihilation, Ms D'Souza went to work on a possible solution and took out the top prize in an international competition to find new ways of stopping asteroids from hitting Earth.
Didn't they come up with something similar to this in "Armageddon"?
Hitching up Mylar sails to shift the trajectory of the rock? Billy Bob Thorton said it was a bad idea then, why is it all of a sudden a good idea now?
I am a little concerned about the long term effects of this though. Sure, if it works to plan and the Mylar reflective material does shift its course, this is apparently an asteroid that orbits just outside the belt. Too much of a shift and it could very well tag another rock and send it into our moon, or even into Earth itself. Not counting all of the satellites we have in close orbit that could be taken out with a near miss encounter due to debris and magnetic forces.
I certainly hope that they take the long term into account when this is presented to council.
No mention if its Apophis though below is the trajectory predicted for Apophis which is why I'm hoping we can stop it.