Comet Impact Page #5

---

Well Josh has got a possible solution,

but it could make things a whole lot worse.

Can't you two broker a ceasefire or something?

You know, forthe sake of mankind?

Well the thing is Josh might be right.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, you said that he was wrong.

Yeah well there's no empirical proof either way,

thas whas driving me nuts.

Nobody's ever been in a situation like

this before, is all on us and if we screw up...

we could wind upjust like wiping out

the whole planet.

Marcie?

You'd betterfix this Neil.

Gentlemen.

Professor.

The comet chain Gibden-Bell.

Now this is the fella which most concerns us.

A one mile size fragment we're calling

Gibden-Bell A.

Ourforecasts now suggest a 60 percent chance

of collision.

Oh is coming gentlemen and in four months time.

Now if you look at the ellipse pattern, you'll see

that America's very much in the line of fire,

either via a giant Tsunami if

the impact occurs in...

either ocean orthrough a direct land strike,

which would devastate thousands of square miles.

Now here's how we persuade it to go away.

Stand off nuclear diversion.

A series of nuclear devices will be launched

to the comet,

programmed to detonate alongside it, far enough

away to avoid a fracture.

The intense heat will vaporise the surface of

one side of the comet causing...

that side to outgas altering its trajectory,

thrusting it away from the earth.

What model basis did you use?

The Icarus Project developed at M.I.T. In 1967.

That was a, a hypothetical collision with earth by

the asteroid 1566 Icarus.

But Icarus assumed that they had 15 months for

the deflection,

you're saying we only have four?

NASA has been preparing a delivery system since

the threat was first registered.

The plan will require international co-operation,

besides American launch bases,

we'd look to use sites in Europe and China.

We've already received a pledge from the Russians.

Well I presume our French Gowandan base

would be suitable,

however gentlemen I cannot stress enough

the time factor here.

The schedule is achievable if we move quickly.

Oh clearly, clearly time is of the essence...

We cannot rush into a nuclear deflection strategy.

Right now we have no idea of the stability

of the comet,

thas why we need to wait forthe results

of the probe.

If Gibden-Bell A is unstable and

we try to deflect it,

it could break up and the cometesimals released

would be like multiple re-entry warheads,

they would smash into our atmosphere

at 160,000 miles an hour.

Thas not what the Deep lmpact mission found.

Comet 9P-Tempel was, well a lot tougherthan

we thought.

Yeah well what about Shoemaker-Levy 9?

Jupiter's gravity...

tore it to pieces, it turns out that its structure

was weakerthan fresh powder snow.

The point is that each one of these N.E.O.'s is

structurally unique, thas a fact.

Sorry gentlemen, my colleague Neil Gant,

he thinks we have time. I don't.

Until we get the results of that probe we can only

guess as to the comes composition,

but one thing is for sure,

deflecting a comet is an entirely different

proposition than deflecting an asteroid.

Icarus was designed to deflect an asteroid,

which is made of metal or rock not...

a comes made of ice...

of carbon-based compounds,

you wanna throw nukes at that?

That is like playing baseball with a water melon!

Neil thank you, thas enough! Sit down.

No, no, no, no. I wanna hearthis.

Alright. If this is the blast radius of

the comet fragment that...

caused the Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908...

then this would be Washington DC... today.

If that comet breaks up we're gonna create

thousands of projectiles of this kind of powertha

could impact anywhere on this planet,

London, New York, Paris, Rome...

the destruction globally of multiple impacts

would be...

ten times greaterthan that of a single impact

to America and...

of course there's no way to

predict the impact zone,

so no warning, no evacuation,

no planning is possible.

Just death and destruction on

an unimaginable scale,

it would be comparable to

...comparable to a, a nuclear war.

If you're against deflecting the comet,

what alternative strategy are you proposing?

America has to take the hit.

Are you suggesting we sit back and do nothing?

No, we spend the next four months preparing in

every detail an evacuation strategy.

Ten days before impact we will know exactly

where is going to hit.

We spend those ten days executing the plan.

If is gonna hit in the sea then

we evacuate the coast,

if is gonna hit land then...

we evacuate half the country.

We couldn't clear New Orleans in one week

for Katrina,

and you wanna play musical chairs with

It would take all the help of all of

our allies and,

probably most of our enemies too,

but this is our best option.

Is impossible. Even if we could evacuate,

what about everything in the impact zone?

Cities, farms, factories.

It would be economic suicide.

America would be blasted back to the Stone Age.

Allowing the comet to hit could create

a cloud of dust and...

sulphur aerosols that would block out the rays

of the sun.

Food production then becomes impossible.

Millions would die through the

immediate impact events,

millions more through starvation.

It could be an Ice Age all over again.

Brendan Kelly, Queen's University.

I'd like to add something.

An impact winter is not a certainty.

It depends on how much sulphurthere is

in the comet,

how much sulphurthere is in the impact zone.

The comes precise mass and speed,

the truth, the truth is... we won't know

...until is too late.

Thank you, and if we don't know then how can

we commit to such an extreme course of action...

Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen...

...thall be all for now.

- Frank... - Sir?

...could you stay back a moment?

- Absolutely.

You knew that he would go forthe

nuclear deflection...

because he gets to use all his little toys...

and he gets to play the big military hero and

that is why you suggested it.

- But if it works, it works.

- What if it doesn't, Josh?

We're scientists, we're allowed to disagree.

Not at this stage we're not, and not after I'd

laid out very clearly what that strategy would be.

...listen up. General Harris hasjust green lit

the nuclear option.

But, but, but he's also considering other plans.

The final decision will hinge on the outcome

of the probe, is that understood?

Yes sir.

In the meantime, since you two are unable to

agree on a single thing,

I suggest you stay out of each other's way...

and find out exactly where GBA is gonna hit...

to the nearest millimetre.

Adam Gregorski, sir.

Post New Orleans, several people whose opinions

I'm supposed to respect have told me...

you're the best man FEMA has.

What I'm about to say to you is highly classified.

I'm a professional. General, I assume thas why

you called me in.

I need FEMAto work up an emergency

mass evacuation strategy.

It needs to exceed the remit of the

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes