The 'What If' scenario: Asteroid to hit Earth

[terminator363]

Run, it doesn't doesn't matter where to, just run. That, or get laid.

 

[hawkeye122]

Invest heavily in the corporations that make the Plan B pill, in hopes that if it does miss(Act of god, Secret Government Laser), I will become immensely wealthy.

Why? Everyone has unprotected sex because, well, the world is ending.
When it doesnt, you'll end up the next day with millions of Knocked-up teens, who really dont want to have children.

While my opinion on this course of action may be a bit different, I know things like this will happen.

I ought to do that for this whole 2012 thing too...

 

[Dan_]

That pretty much depends on the size of said asteroid.

For instance if it's substantially massive, let's say at least a kilometer in diameter ( of which there are from 500 to 1000 in earth's vicinity ) the destruction it would cause would stir up worldwide chaos. Nevertheless, the impact wouldn't be able to pulverize life on it's own.

So I would move to the countryside and start building a concrete bunker for safety, buy water and canned food for at least two years for my entire family and guns to defend our provisions and ourselves until the dust has settled. If the blast range is way too near, then it's game over.

That said, a civilization killing asteroid is a frankly alarming menace. Even though the mathematical chances of a collision are effectively minimal, we don't dispose of a watch system for space threats like these yet.

As a note, we get few space-related threads like these on GTP. Nice one Turbo. 👍

 

[Peasantslayer]

I'm not sure if we could accurately predict where an asteroid would hit, we were unsure where a satellite would land nevermind an asteroid millions of miles away. All you could do if one was going to hit is stock up on supplies and live in a hole somewhere.

Did you read the article? It says we would need to detonate it at least 8 billion miles away from Earth (the furthest it can be detected) in order to pull off splitting it apart and missing Earth; with a bomb a billion times stronger than anything we have ever built.

I heard that if a large ship flew in front of an asteroid it's small gravitational pull could effect it enough to take it off a collision course with Earth.

 

[niky]

Yeah, just like a flea could pull a basketball off course fron colliding with the basket.

If the basket were far away enough. You'd have to start pushing the asteroid off course years in advance.

We simply don't have the launch capacity to throw a ship up into space big enough to pull an asteroid off course simply by doing a fly-by.

 

[PeterJB]

You'd have to nuke it and hope that either destroys it or bumps it.

 

[Dan_]

Unless we can predict the asteroid trajectory with enough distance to spare, send the spacecraft and trusters there and use solar electric propulsion to divert the trajectory only a little bit. The craft would have to be attached the asteroid and push it off. I believe that as long as there is enough trust relative to the size of the asteroid, there might be a chance this would work. But maths might prove me wrong.

 

[Slash]

If the threat was real, NASA would have known long before the public even had a clue and I'm 99% sure the government would make multiple attempts to destroy it and minimalize it's impact.

Otherwise I'd get laid as much as possible

 

[Touring Mars]

If the threat was real, NASA would have known long before the public even had a clue and I'm 99% sure the government would make multiple attempts to destroy it and minimalize it's impact.

Otherwise I'd get laid as much as possible

Again it would depend on the size of the asteroid... the smaller the asteroid, the less likely it is to be spotted at all. And given that the majority of the planet is uninhabited, it's more likely than not that the first thing anyone will know about an unspotted asteroid having hit the Earth would be the effect it has on impact e.g. a mega-tsunami, a massive air burst explosion, or something similarly likely to put a crimp in one's afternoon.

 

[Omnis]

You don't "commit anarchy". You can commit and a crime or vandalize, but a rioting gang is not anarchy.

 

[Tahli462]

Get laid, at least.

 

[Slash]

Again it would depend on the size of the asteroid... the smaller the asteroid, the less likely it is to be spotted at all. And given that the majority of the planet is uninhabited, it's more likely than not that the first thing anyone will know about an unspotted asteroid having hit the Earth would be the effect it has on impact e.g. a mega-tsunami, a massive air burst explosion, or something similarly likely to put a crimp in one's afternoon.

That is very true, good point.

 

[Quackjack29]

Since im irreligous....

Get laid, ride cars, skydive then die via epic explosion

 

[adam46]

I would spend every second with my girlfriend of the last 5 years. I already pretty much live with her. And, I know I'm 14 but in a situation where life may be ablout to cease, I would pop the question; just in case we survive.

Of course if we were to survive but others didn't I'd go steal a Ferrari F40, head to Brands Hatch and drive my life away.

 

[Borna12345]

Yeah, just like a flea could pull a basketball off course fron colliding with the basket.

If the basket were far away enough. You'd have to start pushing the asteroid off course years in advance.

We simply don't have the launch capacity to throw a ship up into space big enough to pull an asteroid off course simply by doing a fly-by.

Yes, not any more. If we could stick a rocket into it, we could change it's inclination so that it doesn't hit, but we haven't got the power needed anymore.
Or we could do 10-20 launches of today's rockets and assemble in orbit.

 

[lbsf1]

Yes, not any more. If we could stick a rocket into it, we could change it's inclination so that it doesn't hit, but we haven't got the power needed anymore.
Or we could do 10-20 launches of today's rockets and assemble in orbit.

Or since there are probably still blueprints for the saturn rockets then surely if survival is at steak then the worlds scientists and engineers could get one of those built and make some changes to it too modernize the design abit.

 

[Bye Ya]

I'd embrace death. 💡 Seriously, life with savages on a dust ball isn't worth it. I'd park up for a good view of the impact.

 

[locoman88]

I'd embrace death. 💡 Seriously, life with savages on a dust ball isn't worth it. I'd park up for a good view of the impact.

Yea,true. No sense to live a life of pain and suffering.

 

[Bye Ya]

Yea,true. No sense to live a life of pain and suffering.

Peoples' behavior in the aftermath would be suffering enough for me to have to watch. "Stock up guns"... "rob pharmacies"... just fantastic. No thanks. See ya.

 

[locoman88]

Peopless behavior in the aftermath would be suffering enough for me to watch. "Stock up guns"... "rob pharmacies"... just fantastic. No thanks. See ya.

It would be like the hunger games. It would suck.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I'd embrace death. 💡 Seriously, life with savages on a dust ball isn't worth it. I'd park up for a good view of the impact.

I think I agree with this.

 

[E28]

It would be like the hunger games. It would suck.

We'd all turn into kids and be trapped in an arena where only one person will make it out alive? What an unusual asteroid.

I'd probably stock up on food and that, joyride in a few cars, and wait...

 

[Borna12345]

Or since there are probably still blueprints for the saturn rockets then surely if survival is at steak then the worlds scientists and engineers could get one of those built and make some changes to it too modernize the design abit.

The problem with that is that we don't have a equipped launch pad. There was a proposal after Apollo ended to manufacture more of the Saturn V and IB rockets. equipped with slight engine improvements and weight reductions, even some nice nuclear engines (NERVA), a Centaur stage like the one on the Atlas V that is currently used, but the Nixon administration and a Congress that cared (and still does) more about making money than about science basically ended past - Low Earth Orbit spaceflight.The Saturn V could carry somewhere around 120 tons to LEO, which is over five times today's most powerful rocket, the Air Force's Delta IV, which ferries 22 tons. Assembly in orbit would be needed even with the Saturn, as a powerful rocket would be needed to make a change to the inclination, but we could get it done faster, enhancing our chances to survive. A slight inclination change would be enough, but moving mass requires a lot of fuel, and either a lot of thrust, or a lot of time.
BTW, there is still a couple Saturn V pieces scattered across the US which could be repurposed into a functioning rocket given time. Keep in mind that we would be able to launch something a bit bigger than the tiny Apollo, as we would be going to a body with weaker gravity, and the spacecraft would not need to come back. However, the sheer distance from Earth to asteroid we could intercept before it hits would need to be bridged, and then there is the issue of launching early enough. What I would do if I was making decisions, I would start assembling a failsafe in Low Earth orbit right now, so that it's ready if we need it. I imagine the public wouldn't like that, and neither would the Congress. That is, until it hits.

 

[locoman88]

We'd all turn into kids and be trapped in an arena where only one person will make it out alive? What an unusual asteroid.

I'd probably stock up on food and that, joyride in a few cars, and wait...

Noo. I meant that you would see people killing eachother, if we survive, to find food and become full of riches (supplies).

 

[kikie]

Ponder what I'm going to do. When I have finally decided what I want to do, it's probably too late.

Or

Buy myself a second hand supercar.

 

[Sage Ages]

Get a chair and sunglasses, and watch the fireworks.

 

[Mark T]

I'd probably grab as much food and water as I could carry. I expect looting would break out very quickly if the government announced the impact in a way that suggested that we're not going to survive it.

I would then try and get to the highest point because when that meteor hits there's going to be a tsunami of epic proportions. In the UK I guess Wales is the most mountainous region so I would probably head that way.

But I guess it's all pointless, with a devastating meteor it's likely to cause volcanic eruptions, dust clouds which will block sunlight meaning no plants which means no animals to eat. Unless you get lucky, you're going to have a bad time.

There might be some survivors. Those who already have concrete and steel reinforced bunkers who are outside the impact zone may have a chance. Maybe some military personnel on nuclear submarines may have enough resources to live a few years.

Just a thought - nuclear power stations, if there's an impact in any country which has a few dotted around surely that's going to cause some real problems.

 

[niky]

If you've got a meteor-caused global winter, a little radiation is the least of your concerns.

At least it'll slow down (or reverse) global warming for a while.

But you're looking at the death of most everything more complicated than algae. Even if you've got a good bunker and the supplies to sit it out, you might not be able to find anything to eat afterwards.

 

[Rage Racer]

I'll go to my local military recruit point, join the RF army and wait for the impact in a military bunker with a three-month food supply and being armed with an AK.

Sometimes I find my country perfect for survival in any apocalypse situation.

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

If I've no chance of surviving it. I'd just get laid, joyride in a few cars and then sit down, put my head between my legs and kiss my a** goodbye.

If I could survive it then I'd do everything I could to do so.