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Originally Posted by publiusr
It is a de facto dry run. A single pulse unit (like that developed for Orion) with the tungsten shaped charge would take the place of the inert copper impactor--so pretty much the self-same craft could be used, and the warhead being about the same size.
So no Special Space Shuttle from Armageddon--no pulse spaceship like the Messiah from the movie DEEP IMPACT...
Just another Delta II.
(yawn).
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I
like the idea of "Just another Delta II"...we know it
works. Just look at what happened to the spacecraft in the movies
Algoug really having those spacecraft available would absolutely rock!
So far we've rammed a comet and soft-landed on an asteroid (along with several fly-bys at various distances)--both missions could be seen as dry runs for diverting an impactor. And with the long duration tests of ion drive, and tests of solar sails, we are building options for when we may have to divert an impactor--do a soft landing and strap a solar sail or ion drive to it; or fly-by, soft land, or ram it with a nuke...
These are also steps that could be used for mining operations...