But on the other hand it might miss Earth by a squillion light years? Nothing to see here, go back to sleep. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...n-asteroid-in-hunt-for-first-sample-2jx3mbx7x
Well if it's in the solar system, it'll be a lot closer than several light years - but nevermind. Unfortunately the full article is behind a paywall for me. The part of the article that I could access contained the following: The phrases "space rock" and "some fear is on course to smash into.." don't sound particularly scientific to me - more like something that a journalist would produce so, as usual and rather boringly, I've tried to find some source material instead. Here's a link to the NASA microsite for that mission: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex You'll notice both a lack of the use of the term "space rock" and an absence of immediate concern about it colliding with Earth - however there is a non-zero risk (about 1 in 2000) of a collision in over 150 years time which I guess is one of the reasons that they hope to "tag" it. https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/details.html#?des=101955 OTOH, it looks to be an interesting mission with plenty of opportunity for remote (or indeed autonomous) operation an a chance to learn more about the early solar system.
Something will hit Earth sooner or later, as has happened countless times before. Currently we have little or no defense, but then again we could be extinct before the next event anyway...
I'm not saying we shouldn't look into it, but the options are limited with current levels of technology...
As is the usual human way....we will create a solution when we need to, not before. Whether it works or not...who knows. If its a month away then all bets are off except nukes, and we would probably be stupid enough to use them.
Nukes aren't really an option, any asteroid or that would hit Earth has a 75% chance of hitting the ocean, blowing that into pieces would exponentially increase the odds of hitting a populated area or multiple populated areas instead...
