In theory, the most powerful launch vehicles can deliver a charge of thirty megatons to the target, which, when hit, will leave one memory of a mountain of one and a half kilometers. But all such missiles are cryogenic, that is, they use liquefied gas as fuel, and therefore require long-term preparation for the launch. In addition, it is unlikely that ammunition used every million years will be stored in warehouses. This means that a heavy-duty landmine and a special asteroid warhead with an upper stage, communication and guidance systems will have to be made in a hurry.
But what if there is a mistake? Even a close explosion won't do any good. Partial asteroid evaporation will create a small reactive force, but the shell is already in the gravity pit of the Earth! If the velocity of the body is high, it may deflect, catch the upper atmosphere and go away. If the asteroid is "slow", catching up with the planet, disaster cannot be avoided.
And even by hitting an asteroid, the warhead will only crush it. The stone community will turn into a sheaf of wreckage, and a bombardment of the Earth, previously only probable, is likely to become inevitable. Small fragments will burn up in the atmosphere, but there will also be many hundred meters of survivability. But the stone that left us a memory of the Arizona crater, had only fifty meters in the cross! After the explosion of a large asteroid, it will be necessary, as the military put it, to "get rid of" the wreckage. As well as in the case of a miss on a small target.
This task is more difficult than covering an intruder with the first salvo. First, missiles approaching the remains of the asteroid may die in collisions with small fragments. Secondly, the speed of dangerous fragments is still several times higher than the speed of missiles. They can be struck only after calculating the trajectory in advance. But there will be no time for this. Until the asteroid is destroyed, nothing can be said about the flying of its wreckage. "Shooting" will have to carry out missile bases, constantly on duty in orbit and armed with carriers of comparatively.
Mine in orbit
The development of a planetary protection system will require enormous investment. Nevertheless, the investment in the PDS, as it was once in the "arms race", will pay off, because it will be used to create new technologies. The ability to change the orbits of near-Earth asteroids and, in the long run, more massive bodies, will be useful to mankind in any case. But not in order to drive away from the space trifle, but to put asteroids into orbit on Earth.
Asteroids are not only destructive power. It is also tons of metals. Ordinary chondrite consists of iron by a quarter and can be considered a very rich ore. But there are all-metal bodies! And a comet, if you bring it into Earth orbit, can serve as a "tanker" and for decades supply spacecraft with methane and water. Captured "space reefs" can become an inexhaustible source of resources for the development of the solar system.
The mines outside the Earth
The moon. This unchanging attribute of romantic a walk that's responsible for the tides on Earth, maybe to interest pragmatists in titanium deposits, aluminum, chromium, and iron. In the surface layer moon soil (regolith) contains isotope helium-3, which is used as a nuclear fuel. The cost of a liter of such fuel is 1200
The lunar reserves amount to 500 thousand US dollars. tons. For comparison: to heat and to illuminate all the inhabitants of planet Earth for 30 tons of helium-3 is needed in a year. That is, the stocks the satellite will last for about 16,000 years. of thermonuclear heat for humans of civilization.
Planets.
Asteroids. In the solar system are hanging out hundreds of thousands of these celestial bodies. Most of them... ...in the asteroid belt that's... between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. There are many asteroids approaching the land that could be more than just a source of danger and an excuse to call Bruce Willis, but also a potential raw material the base. By the way, almost all the precious and ...the rare metals were transported to Earth in the form of wreckage
Eros (class S). В 2000 of the year to this near-Earth asteroid in the group Amurov landed a spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker. Based on the data obtained by the apparatus, the American David Whitehouse calculated the approximate cost of this of the space mine. It contains about 20 billion tonnes of aluminum, as well as gold, zinc, and platinum is more than what we got from our planet in the history of its development. General the value of these spaces deposits about $20 trillion.
Aton (class M) - by space body standards - the grain of sand: only two kilometers across. But the whole thing consists of metals. The native iron and nickel are there for eight trillion dollars, cobalt for six trillion, platinum group metals, too. for about six trillion dollars.
Psyche (class M) is one of the largest asteroids in the solar system. It consists of 90% iron and nickel and stands out among its celestial brethren not only in size but also in weight. The Psyche's ore reserves would be sufficient to meet the needs of the earthlings for several million years.
You're better off with us: how to get it.
Scientists and science fiction experts offer several options for extracting minerals from space mines.
Option one:
Mining ore in space and sending it to Earth for processing. The algorithm is simple:
Arrive, stick into the asteroid "harpoon", attracted to it on the spacecraft, drop on the surface of the equipment. Reliably
fix the equipment on the surface, otherwise, because of the low gravity force, the robot extracting machine may fall off the surface and fly into space. Mining raw materials open in a way or by means of mines (depending on the specifics of the object). Send the dug-in to Earth. The minus of this method: there will be "traveling" that is big enough for the amount of excess material, which will increase transportation costs.
Option two:
Mining ore in space, where it is recycled, send clean resources to Earth. To do this, it will be necessary to send mining sites additional equipment for recycling, but you can reduce
the cost of transporting the product.
Option three, fantastic:
Create an on asteroid (or planet) colony of self-replicating machines. They work for solar energy, produce useful fossils and build their copies. They will be able to be delivered to Earth and processed for the needs of its population. It is hoped that the colony robots won't decide to rise up against the Earthlings and to unleash a victorious space war.
Option four, even more fantastic:
Let's not wait for graces from nature and bring the space object closer to the Earth. We find out from the scientist's husbands, which asteroid can be dragged into the near-Earth space. While astronomers name 12 such objects. With the help of space harpoons and traps, we drag it to the point of Lagrange (the area where the optimal conditions of gravity to keep between two large celestial objects of the third, small) between the Moon and the Earth. We use a "space storage room" located in the walking distance, periodically repulsing from the space capers.
* * *
Most of the technical problems that hinder the development of antimeteoric protection are insurmountable. Interplanetary stations have already overtaken the asteroids, making a soft landing. It is quite possible to deliver the necessary amount of nuclear explosives to the target. At the same time, the target cannot be struck by missiles, but dozens of vehicles can gently descend to the surface of the asteroid in order to simultaneously detonate the charges.
It will be more difficult to deal with political and financial problems. Until the asteroid appears on the horizon, the cost of a planetary defense system looks unjustified. And who will control a system that can serve as a weapon of mass destruction? These questions are more complicated than calculating orbits.