Russia shoots down meteor?

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

Disclaimer: I only know what is posted in the article.

https://rt.com/news/meteorite-crash-urals-chelyabinsk-283/

The article claims that Russian air defenses shot down at least one meteor. If so, this would be impressive considering the speed the object was probably traveling at and the very short (presumably) window that would exist to identify, track, and engage it. The article doesn't say what weapon was used to hit it either. IF this proves to be true, this poses some interesting questions about Russian capability to destroy targets coming from space at high speeds (MIRVs).

Edited February 15, 2013 by Napoleon_Tanerite

[HU&W]

Looks like they're calling an intercept altitude of around 67K feet so rough terminal velocity assuming a spherical meteorite that has similar properties to other meteorites we've found, terminal velocity at intercept would be around 4100 knots. So find/fix would have to be at an altitude of around 220,000-250,000 feet (minimum) and fire with guidance no later than 170,000-200,000 feet. Even with very rough numbers, that's impressive for what must have been a very small target.

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

Looks like they're calling an intercept altitude of around 67K feet so rough terminal velocity assuming a spherical meteorite that has similar properties to other meteorites we've found, terminal velocity at intercept would be around 4100 knots. So find/fix would have to be at an altitude of around 220,000-250,000 feet (minimum) and fire with guidance no later than 170,000-200,000 feet. Even with very rough numbers, that's impressive for what must have been a very small target.

Small, and that they probably had almost no prior warning that it was coming, unless the were already on the lookout due to the known asteroid that is supposed to pass Earth tomorrow.

[ClearedHot]

Reports of massive damage and up to 500 people injured from the impact.

It doesn't look like they shot or attempted to shoot it down in the video. I bet these people though we launched a missile at them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO_uo0bPbu4

[Jaded]

Wouldn't shooting a meteor with a missile just make the situation worse?

[spaceman]

Here's a video showing some of the effects of the blast

[ExBoneOSO]

Amazing footage - that must have been one heck of a shockwave.

Shootdown claims though? If it's on the internet, it must be true.

[HU&W]

The meteor -- estimated to be about 10 tons and 49 feet wide -- entered the Earth's atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of at least 33,000 mph and shattered into pieces about 18-32 miles above the ground, the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

It also had the explosive yield of a small atomic bomb.

Link

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

Wouldn't shooting a meteor with a missile just make the situation worse?

I guess it depends. If they were able to break it into smaller pieces perhaps it would reduce the damage when it hit the ground? Looks like news today is backing off (or completely omitting) the previous claims of intercept.

[HU&W]

Here's a video showing some of the effects of the blast

Now for a moment, imagine flying in the vicinity of that.

[Gravedigger]

Wouldn't shooting a meteor with a missile just make the situation worse?

Not if you do it correctly.

[Breckey]

I guess it depends. If they were able to break it into smaller pieces perhaps it would reduce the damage when it hit the ground?

Entering the atmosphere at something on the order of Mach 20, the meteorite broke up on its own accord. I would venture to guess that the 99.69 of the damage was due to the sonic boom, not ground impact.

[BQZip01]

It also had the explosive yield of a small atomic bomb.

What? no Minot B-52 jokes?

[MKopack]

Wait, I saw that movie... "Yippee Ki-Yay Mother Russia"

[billy pilgrim]

If you wanted to stop one of these the trick would be to hit it early enough (way out in space), just to nudge it a bit so it doesn't hit Earth.. or at least doesn't hit 'Merica. Once it's in the atmosphere that thing has so much kinetic energy that there's no way that "science" is going to be able to do anything.

[Guest one]

Forget blowing it up. We need to work at solving the root issue of all these meteors. Global warming.

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

If you wanted to stop one of these the trick would be to hit it early enough (way out in space), just to nudge it a bit so it doesn't hit Earth.. or at least doesn't hit 'Merica. Once it's in the atmosphere that thing has so much kinetic energy that there's no way that "science" is going to be able to do anything.

Step 1 would be detecting it. Looks like this thing was completely undetected until it entered the atmosphere. The sooner it is detected and acted upon the easier (theoretically) it would be to prevent an impact. The amount of degree change required increases exponentially (along with the energy required to cause such a change) the closer it gets to Earth.

[Fuzz]

Wait, I saw that movie... "Yippee Ki-Yay Mother Russia"

Dammit, beat me too it, already had the image till I scrolled past yours.

[Boomer6]

Not much data to go on regarding flight trajectories of bus sized meteors... Hard to predict how the trajectory is going to change once it begins to enter the atmosphere and starts heating up/breaking apart. Not to mention how far in advance a shot would have to be launched to intercept something moving at that speed. If they have FCRs that can do that kind of work then I'm not sure why they're threatened by the Euro missile shield.

[HossHarris]

Any word on how big that rock in Russia was? I'd bet basketball sized

[ThreeHoler]

Any word on how big that rock in Russia was? I'd bet basketball sized

15m and 7,700 tons were the last estimates I saw.

[sledy]

Any word on how big that rock in Russia was? I'd bet basketball sized

Report I saw was around 10 tons. The size of a small house is what it was compared too. It left an impact mark in the ice outside of the Russian town that looked about 20 ft in diameter.

Sledy

https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/us-russia-meteorite-idUSBRE91E05Z20130215

Edited February 16, 2013 by sledy

[HU&W]

Any word on how big that rock in Russia was? I'd bet basketball sized

Yes, it was the width of a basketball court.

[M2]

[HU&W]

Russia is now proposing that everyone across the world come together to create a giant space defense weapons system. So, who would control it? Can it be turned inward? What about cost? And is it even possible?