Earth escapes asteroid flyby, boffins want lasers aimed at next one
The largest recorded asteroid to enter Earth's elbow-room has passed by safely, with 2012 DA14 skimming through the geostationary orbit of our satellites at 17,450 miles per hour without leaving a scratch. The asteroid was observable with binoculars as it reached its closest point to Earth at 11:25am PST (7:25pm UTC) over …
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Rather than a laser...
...wouldn't it be easier to use an electromagnetic cannon on the moon to shoot the free supply of lunar rocks at these asteroids? c.f. "The moon is a harsh mistress." Probably need an ion thruster or two on the missiles to keep them on target. I'm pretty sure none of them would miss and come back round and hit us.
Re: Rather than a laser...
Picture a ton of regolith leaving Moon every second for months and months on a collision course with soon smaller asteroid...
Re: Rather than a laser...
Please all hail Gerard K. O'Neil when you talk about Mass Drivers in space...or getting into space.
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