Ethan’s writing about how to stop a “killer” asteroid

so, there is an asteroid headed for earth. what do you do? well, it depends on the size of the asteroid, and when its gonna hit.

the best is…a 500m asteroid with the impact 10 y away. so, the Earth goes the length of its diameter every 7 mins. so we need the asteroid to arrive 7 minutes before or after. so, divide 7 mins by 10 y is about 1/1,000,000. so we need to push it by 1 part in a million.there are six ways to do this.

1. force. slam an object into the side of an asteroid, knocking it off course.
2. nuke it… but miss. yup, explode a nuclear bomb right next to an astroidd, and that will push it off course.
3. graffiti. spray paint an asteroid white, and the sun will push it off course.
4. gravity tractor beam. get a 20-ton spacecraft flying next to the asteroid. the gravity of the spaceship will gradually pull the asteroid away!
5. rocket. the simplest. attach a rocket to the asteroid.
6. laser beam. shoot a laser at the asteroid and it will be gone.

the worst-case would be that we catch it only a few months before it hits. in that case, we need to shoot a nuclear bomb at it. but!!!!!! make it go deep into the asteroid.

I guess that is all Ethan wrote! oh well. huh.