Armageddon: A Physics Horror Film
The beauty of Armageddon takes form in its witty commentary and engaging plot line. If you watch this film you may be taken in by the dazzling heroism and action packed scenes. But do not be blinded by Hollywood's fantasies! The truth is that Armageddon is a physics horror film. The laws of physics and the basic realities of logic are throw out of the machine gun equipped space ship in this film. Not only does the story line contain some questionable details, like the aforementioned machine gun in space, but the basis that NASA in the film builds its apocalypse diverting plan on is purely false and impossible. If NASA were to send a team to space, and they managed to blast the asteroid apart with a nuclear bomb, then the two pieces of the asteroid (and all the shrapnel the bomb created) would most definitely still destroy Earth.
Now NASA's plan sounds brilliant, and we wish it would be so easy, but Hollywood in the creation of this "plan" seem to have forgotten a basic law of physics, the conservation of energy. The conservation of energy dictates that no energy (in this case mechanical), a combination of potential and kinetic energy, is lost in a closed system throughout an event (such as the nuclear destruction of an asteroid). The scientists in the film predicted that if the asteroid were split at least 2.86 hours before the asteroid would reach Earth, the two halves of the asteroid would pass us by. After a few calculations it is revealed that NASA's grand plan was ridiculously inadequate. An asteroid with a mass of 5.5x10²¹ kg would be moving at 0.012 m/s AFTER it was hit with the nuclear bomb. That means in the span of 2.86 hours the two halves of the asteroid would be 252 m apart; that is roughly two football fields. So now not only do you have a world-ending, global disaster of an asteroid coming straight for you but now you have two! This assessment of the facts does not even take into account all the smaller fragments created by the nuclear blast that will also come hurtling for Earth.
You must be thinking "REALLY?! That's all a nuclear bomb would do to an asteroid?" and you would be right in your disbelief and fear. Hollywood is well known for stretching and sometimes reinventing the laws of physics. Yet, the likelihood of an extinction level asteroid striking Earth is non-negotiable, it is only a mater of time. The prospects for our future seem dismal in the face of an inevitable asteroid collision, but fear not! I come baring a solution to the arrival of an apocalypse inducing, extinction level asteroid disaster. NASA, based firmly in reality and not Hollywood's fantasy world, has been developing their own plan of action in case of such an apocalyptic event. The Asteroid Mitigation Team at NASA deals in the prevention of an asteroid apocalypse. They track and asses asteroids that could come into contact with Earth and also make action plans for the coming disaster.
The idea of destroying an asteroid with a nuclear bomb has been deemed unlikely, as no one on Earth has created a bomb powerful enough to cause real damage. There are four basic different types of asteroids: porous, rocky, nickel-iron, and rubble pile asteroids. After testing these component types of asteroids in experiments, only a few sustained substantial damage (like the porous asteroid), but the resulting fragments would still annihilate most of the Earth's population. The other asteroid types sustained minimal damage and would have still collided with Earth. The scientists of NASA moved away from nuclear destruction and turned instead to the idea of pushing an asteroid away from Earth.
This breakthrough, and all together more realistic idea, came with the creation of a Kinetic Impactor. Such a devise would be one or more, high speed spacecraft that would be launched at the oncoming asteroid. The collision and push the craft causes would be enough to divert the asteroid's trajectory, causing it to leave Earth's orbital path. The power of the spacecraft would come from its kinetic energy that would accumulate on its path towards the asteroid. This also means the craft would need to be launched well in advance of the collision with Earth. NASA predicts they would need 1 to 2 years advance notice to defeat a smaller asteroid. However, if a dangerous asteroid were to be detected tomorrow, NASA would need about 20 years to develop the technology we would need to face even a small asteroid threat.
There is also the possibility that the diverted asteroid would fall into the "keyhole space" which is an area that would drag the asteroid into orbit around the sun, and would eventually result in the head on collision of the asteroid and Earth. To keep this from happening NASA will use a satellite or other spacecraft to draw the asteroid out of the danger zone. The satellite would use its own pull and the gravitational pull of the asteroid to slowly draw the asteroid away from the "keyhole space". Once the asteroid is safely pulled aside it will assure the continued existence of Earth and life as we know it. The possibilities of such a defense plan is still years from being actionable, but at least NASA has a better plan than "let's blow stuff up and hope for the best".
We can all rest easier knowing that we are not as likely to die as we would be if Hollywood ran NASA. Just think! If an asteroid were to come for us in at least 20 years we might have a great plan to counteract that disaster. No need to consider the probability of an asteroid strike coming for our planet before the technology can catch up. But at least we will not have to rely on machinegun-toting rovers and a team of first time astronauts with space dementia to get the job done.
Hmm... I might stick to romantic comedies from now on. At least then the heteronormative storylines and dull plot twists are predictable and hopefully do not involve the inevitable end of life (and physics) as we know it.
Now NASA's plan sounds brilliant, and we wish it would be so easy, but Hollywood in the creation of this "plan" seem to have forgotten a basic law of physics, the conservation of energy. The conservation of energy dictates that no energy (in this case mechanical), a combination of potential and kinetic energy, is lost in a closed system throughout an event (such as the nuclear destruction of an asteroid). The scientists in the film predicted that if the asteroid were split at least 2.86 hours before the asteroid would reach Earth, the two halves of the asteroid would pass us by. After a few calculations it is revealed that NASA's grand plan was ridiculously inadequate. An asteroid with a mass of 5.5x10²¹ kg would be moving at 0.012 m/s AFTER it was hit with the nuclear bomb. That means in the span of 2.86 hours the two halves of the asteroid would be 252 m apart; that is roughly two football fields. So now not only do you have a world-ending, global disaster of an asteroid coming straight for you but now you have two! This assessment of the facts does not even take into account all the smaller fragments created by the nuclear blast that will also come hurtling for Earth.
You must be thinking "REALLY?! That's all a nuclear bomb would do to an asteroid?" and you would be right in your disbelief and fear. Hollywood is well known for stretching and sometimes reinventing the laws of physics. Yet, the likelihood of an extinction level asteroid striking Earth is non-negotiable, it is only a mater of time. The prospects for our future seem dismal in the face of an inevitable asteroid collision, but fear not! I come baring a solution to the arrival of an apocalypse inducing, extinction level asteroid disaster. NASA, based firmly in reality and not Hollywood's fantasy world, has been developing their own plan of action in case of such an apocalyptic event. The Asteroid Mitigation Team at NASA deals in the prevention of an asteroid apocalypse. They track and asses asteroids that could come into contact with Earth and also make action plans for the coming disaster.
The idea of destroying an asteroid with a nuclear bomb has been deemed unlikely, as no one on Earth has created a bomb powerful enough to cause real damage. There are four basic different types of asteroids: porous, rocky, nickel-iron, and rubble pile asteroids. After testing these component types of asteroids in experiments, only a few sustained substantial damage (like the porous asteroid), but the resulting fragments would still annihilate most of the Earth's population. The other asteroid types sustained minimal damage and would have still collided with Earth. The scientists of NASA moved away from nuclear destruction and turned instead to the idea of pushing an asteroid away from Earth.
This breakthrough, and all together more realistic idea, came with the creation of a Kinetic Impactor. Such a devise would be one or more, high speed spacecraft that would be launched at the oncoming asteroid. The collision and push the craft causes would be enough to divert the asteroid's trajectory, causing it to leave Earth's orbital path. The power of the spacecraft would come from its kinetic energy that would accumulate on its path towards the asteroid. This also means the craft would need to be launched well in advance of the collision with Earth. NASA predicts they would need 1 to 2 years advance notice to defeat a smaller asteroid. However, if a dangerous asteroid were to be detected tomorrow, NASA would need about 20 years to develop the technology we would need to face even a small asteroid threat.
There is also the possibility that the diverted asteroid would fall into the "keyhole space" which is an area that would drag the asteroid into orbit around the sun, and would eventually result in the head on collision of the asteroid and Earth. To keep this from happening NASA will use a satellite or other spacecraft to draw the asteroid out of the danger zone. The satellite would use its own pull and the gravitational pull of the asteroid to slowly draw the asteroid away from the "keyhole space". Once the asteroid is safely pulled aside it will assure the continued existence of Earth and life as we know it. The possibilities of such a defense plan is still years from being actionable, but at least NASA has a better plan than "let's blow stuff up and hope for the best".
We can all rest easier knowing that we are not as likely to die as we would be if Hollywood ran NASA. Just think! If an asteroid were to come for us in at least 20 years we might have a great plan to counteract that disaster. No need to consider the probability of an asteroid strike coming for our planet before the technology can catch up. But at least we will not have to rely on machinegun-toting rovers and a team of first time astronauts with space dementia to get the job done.
Hmm... I might stick to romantic comedies from now on. At least then the heteronormative storylines and dull plot twists are predictable and hopefully do not involve the inevitable end of life (and physics) as we know it.
Lovely review and good summary of what we learned in class. The only thing I could have asked for would have been for you to include some calculations to show that NASA's real plan really would work.
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