Russia mulls beacons and the bomb to thwart asteroids

Russian officials on Tuesday proposed ideas ranging from planting beacon transmitters on asteroids to megaton-sized nuclear strikes to avert the threat from meteor collisions with the Earth.

Herschel intercepts asteroid Apophis

(Phys.org)—ESA's Herschel space observatory made new observations of asteroid Apophis as it approached Earth this weekend. The data shows the asteroid to be bigger than first estimated, and less reflective.

Satellite beacon mission suggested for asteroid Apophis

According to a Russian news story, a report just released by the Russian Academy of Sciences suggests sending a satellite with a radio beacon to asteroid 99942 Apophis for better determining its trajectory and finding out ...

Chinese propose method for deflecting asteroid Apophis

(PhysOrg.com) -- Chinese scientist Shengping Gong and associates at Tsinghua University in Beijin have proposed an alternative method of deflecting the asteroid Apophis to ensure that it does not strike the earth. They believe ...

Astronomers continue to monitor asteroid Apophis

Asteroid Apophis continues to be an object of interest for astronomers. Even though the possibility of an Earth impact by the now-famous asteroid has been ruled out during its upcoming close encounter on April 13, 2029, this ...

Research team casts light on asteroid deflection

So you think global warming is a big problem? What could happen if a 25-million-ton chunk of rock slammed into Earth? When something similar happened 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs and other forms of life were wiped ...

Russia in secret plan to save Earth from asteroid: official

Russian scientists will soon meet in secret to work on a plan for saving Earth from a possible catastrophic collision with a giant asteroid in 26 years, the head of Russia's space agency said Wednesday.

World's researchers prepare for a cosmic encounter

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first International Academy of Astronautics Planetary Defence Conference is being held in Granada, Spain, on 27-30 April. Among the topics under discussion will be preparations for the near-Earth flyby ...

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