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mfb- t1_jal2tc5 wrote

Reply to comment by MozeeToby in NASA’s DART data validates kinetic impact as planetary defense method | DART altered the orbit of the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos by 33 minutes by mepper

It's 30 minutes difference in the orbit around Didymos, an orbital motion with a tiny orbital velocity (~18 cm/s). The impact changed the velocity by around 1 cm/s. Over 2 years and for a free-flying asteroid that accumulates to 600 km in the best case. We would need a larger impactor (or many) for this scenario.

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identicles t1_jalgvcc wrote

Which, as a casual observer, doesn’t seem unreasonable if the fate of civilization is on the line. (This comment is aware of the the impending doom of man-made climate change. Only thinking about the ability of the global community's ability to potentially mobilize around a less-abstract threat to our existence)

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mfb- t1_jalosan wrote

Something the size of Dimorphos can produce regional devastation but it's not a global threat.

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