We will just launch idiots into space to divert the trajectories, you are on the first rocket.

hahaha

Actually, Cena, I have recently given much thought (probably whole minutes) to how Obama would respond to a Death Asteroid. This is what I figure.

Stage One: Obama learns from European Space Agency that the infamous planet killer asteroid is heading for earth and will kill us all.

Stage Two: Obama lays out plan for trillion dollar asteroid smasher laser built by Ratheon and begins trying to allocate money.

Stage Three : Republicans threaten to filibuster as asteroid gets closer. Even though Obama has the votes to push the laser through, he chooses instead to try and work with Republicans, who want the earth destroyed. A long debate goes on about whether anyone should or shouldn't be saved, with Obama disagreeing with Republicans the whole way, as do all of his constituents, but to no avail.

Stage Four: A year goes by, and as the asteroid looms closer, Obama finally reaches a deal with Republicans wherein the laser will be built at full cost, but can only be used to destroy 10% of the asteroid. Democrats huff, but eventually roll over, piss themselves, and wait to be slowly fucked by their Republican Death Masters.

Stage Five: Citing how progressive they are, and accusing any challenger to this of being on drugs, the Obama administration shaves off 7% of the asteroid with the laser, saving Israel, while the rest of the world is destroyed, and that's why he's the greatest president ever DON'T YOU DOUBT HIM.

That scenario doesn't sound too far fetched.

Cena, you are an idiot.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=573725

A one minute search in google would show you why nuking an asteroid is a terrible idea. To sum up, you have to deflect the asteroid, not break it apart. If you break it apart, it has the same energy and will have the same amount of impact.

Second, even if we did need nukes to break them apart, we'd only really need to use it once every few hundred years, if even that. I hardly think reducing our stockpile from 30,000 weapons over the globe to a few hundred or less would prevent us from using them on asteroids.

Yes, an asteroid at least a mile wide or larger is going to strike Earth in the future. However, the odds are that it won't happen for another 100,000 to 10,000,000 years. Instead of a pie in the sky hope of tearing the asteroid apart, our best chances of survival are letting it hit and colonizing Mars and the Moon - which hopefully will happen in the next 250 to 500 years if we make it that long.

Cena, way to troll and turn a nice thread about asteroids and research into a pot-shot at Obama.

Cena said it,
I believe it,
THAT SETTLES IT!

The last four billion years have already done a pretty good job of eliminating all the larger planet-killers.

All the nukes in the world won't help us against an asteroid. No nation on earth has a rocket capable of leaving low earth orbit; the Saturn V and Energia programs are retired and the rockets are gone, and the Ares V haven't even been built and are slated for cancellation.

And under who's administration were the Saturn V and Energia programs canceled?

Saturn V ended in 1973. Nobody canceled it. It simply ran out of funding. Nixon was president at the time.

Energia was a Soviet program. It was discontinued around 1990 during the fall of the Soviet Union.

Cena, you are either seriously trolling or just don't want to do any research on anything. I hope it's the former and not the latter.