Are mirrors the best way to deflect asteroids?
October 10, 2007 | Source: NewScientist.com news service
A swarm of spacecraft with mirrors focused on asteroids is the best way to deflect them, a new study finds.
Illustration: M Vasile et al, University of Glasgow
To deflect a 20-kilometer asteroid, about the size of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, it would take the combined work of 5000 mirror spacecraft focusing sunlight on the asteroid for three or more years.