Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Asteroids and Earth - Armageddon? by Diane Burton


Did you ever see the movie Armageddon? Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and a team of oil drillers have a month to save Earth from destruction by an asteroid.

I love action/adventure stories. I love science fiction. Even more, I love science fiction adventure. However, I do like my adventures to be plausible. In the movie, why do they have only a month from the time an asteroid heading for Earth is noticed? The head of NASA (Billy Bob Thornton) says the reason it wasn't noticed is "it's a big-ass sky." Okay, I agree with that, but sheesh. Professionals and amateurs are watching that sky. And nobody noticed? 

Come. On.

Guess what's going on this week? No, NASA didn't call Bruce and company to save Earth. The International Academy of Astronautics' 2019 Planetary Defense Conference is meeting to discuss how to prepare for an asteroid collision and how to protect Earth and its people.

Are they going to detonate a nuclear bomb (that will split the asteroid in half) before it reaches a critical point where it will do no good? That was the concept in the movie. Or will they slam a spacecraft (unmanned, I hope) into the asteroid to nudge it off course?


Here's the plan. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. will launch in 2022. Besides nudging the asteroid so it bypasses Earth, it will also collect other scientific data. Do you want to know more? Here's a link:
 https://www.space.com/42853-dart-asteroid-impact-defense-mission-2022.html

I just hope an asteroid doesn't come sooner. If so, Bruce and his boys had better gear up.




9 comments:

Maureen said...

Lol- well, guess you could miss it in that big ass sky, lol. I think I saw that movie a long time ago. :)

Diane Burton said...

Teresa, if you like over-the-top action adventure, you'll enjoy the movie. It's a fun movie.

Diane Burton said...

LOL, Maureen. I've probably watched it 5 or 6 times. Not because it's an important work, but because it's fun. And heart-breaking, too. It did make us aware of the danger of an asteroid hitting Earth.

Nightingale said...

Haven't seen the film, but now I must.

Lea Kirk said...

I don't think I ever saw this one, but I gotta now. lol. It can't be anymore implausible than that one with The Rock and a volcano exploding to life under L.A. (C'mon. The guy's boots would've instantly melted in the lava flow.) Can't remember the title of that one, but I'm sure someone here does. ;-)

Diane Burton said...

Linda, I hope you enjoy it.

Diane Burton said...

Lea, I don't know the movie you mentioned. Sounds like fun, even if it's implausible. Deep Impact (another asteroid movie that came out the same year as Armageddon, Tea Leon) was more plausible but slow. Disaster movies are fun to watch, and pick apart. :)

Lucy Naylor Kubash said...

I've seen them both, and it is scary to think about, but so is the super volcano that is Yellowstone. So I don't think about it, lol!

Diane Burton said...

Funny you should mention Yellowstone's super volcano. I used that in my novella, Mission to New Earth. Another disaster waiting to happen. Movie-makers will have a field day with that one. :)