The meteorite crash in Russia and the "friendly" visit a few hours later by asteroid 2012 DA14 have reignited the debate about ways to protect the planet from dangerous space objects. Various ideas have been put on the table from time to time. Some say we should drop nuclear weapons or kamikaze craft on threatening asteroids and meteorites to destroy them or divert their course.
Another proposal is to send specially designed craft that would use gravity to change the course of dangerous bodies. The last and most impressive is the creation of a space defense system that would destroy asteroids and meteorites far from Earth.
Solar superweapon
Scientists at the University of California and the California Institute of Technology have developed the concept of DE-STAR, a system that will be located in space and will destroy objects threatening the Earth. DE-STAR (Directed Energy Solar Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation) will consist of mechanisms that will be in orbit around the Earth and will convert solar energy into laser beams.
The scientists who developed the plan claim that DE-STAR will be able to not only break an asteroid into smaller pieces but literally annihilate it. As they say, DE-STAR will be able to detect the threatening asteroid when it is still far from Earth and start hitting it with a laser from that distance so that when it gets close to Earth, it will either be completely destroyed or no longer pose a threat.
Its capabilities
According to the researchers, DE-STAR will be able to hit and destroy a space rock ten times larger than the one that passed close to Earth last week. They argue that the system would be able to hit such an object when it is at a distance from Earth similar to that of the Sun from our planet.
"This is not a far-fetched idea from a science fiction movie. All the technologies and systems needed to build DE-STAR exist. Some of these technologies may not yet be at the level required to operate such a system, but the building materials for its construction exist and its creation can begin immediately. We will simply need to develop the necessary technologies to adapt to the sizes and power required by such a system," says Gary Hughes, a member of the team of scientists proposing DE-STAR as a system for protecting against space threats. According to the researchers, DE-STAR will also be able to not only destroy but also deflect large asteroids and meteorites from their orbits.
