<p>This may be of relation to the thread titled "How do you cope with death?"</p>
<p>Interesting!</p>
<p>"SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- An asteroid may come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2036 and the United Nations should assume responsibility for a space mission to deflect it, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said on Saturday.</p>
<p>Astronomers are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036.</p>
<p>Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, "</p>
<p>it's not really a big deal, if we act on it. Like the paper says, you can use the principles of gravitational attraction to sway the asteroid; it is so far away, that nudging it just a few centimeters off its course would mean missing Earth by a long shot. If we wait, however, until it is much closer, than we will need to move the asteroid much more. </p>
<p>Another way, my personal favorite, is to dispatch a craft that lands on the asteroid and erects a solar sail. This is just like a sail on a ship, except that in this situation the solar winds from our sun would push the asteroid off its course. </p>
<p>You do NOT just send a missile or something at it...that would be a bad idea.</p>