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Laserglow on Discovery Channel - defending earth from comets, sort of.

Justin

Justin

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YouTube - Bad Universe- Making a Comet

Phil Plait's new series "Bad Universe" features a guest appearance by our Hercules green laser. He's trying to investigate whether you could use a high-powered laser to deflect a comet which is heading towards Earth. The Hercules gets some screen time but the results are... Well, watch and see for yourself.

This is a great series, by the way, and you may know Phil Plait as the author of the Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine website which is also affiliated with Discover magazine.
 





532 with Envy

532 with Envy

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That does look like a fun series....I love that type of TV if I watch at all. I'm not a physics professor but the idea seems sounds, if they could get a powerful enough laser in space and keep it targeted in one spot.
 
Eudaimonium

Eudaimonium

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Commented.

The guy is as fascinated by the Herc as any of us would be :D

Proportions on his experiment were unrealistic, nobody would used unfocused laser to divert a comet, and power to size ratio is also not direct to that of a real situation.

Chemical lasers exist today for military purposes (ZEUS for example), using that ... well, who knows? We just might have a solution.

But the problem is that we would need to spot a comet heading here WAY TOO soon than it's needed to prepare and launch an spacecraft , which would then travel to the comet and use a laser to divert it's path.

In any case, good job on getting some media attention ! ;)
 
DJNY

DJNY

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Thank you Justin, nice video :D

May I ask you which Herc version is it?
 
Blu lase

Blu lase

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Thats ok Sydney's over rated anyway.. As long as the fall out doesnt come Melbournes way its all good

Marc
 
AJ_Dual

AJ_Dual

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The thing is, that even with a very low intercept time, say 2 years to detection, and some crazy last-ditch crash program to build a spacecraft/probe of some sort, and launch it. (cost is no object) and one year to start hitting the comet with 'whatever'...

Even a very small imparted velocity to the comet, once added, will continue, like compound interest, day after day, week after week...

The test he did was like pointing a laser at the comet 5 seconds before impact. To be realistic, his float-table needed to be a few miles long. In that case, even a tiny sideways velocity like 1mm per hour would have that comet falling off the side of the float table before it reached the end.
 
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