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Thread: Get that planet out of here

  1. #1
    Oliphaunt Baldwin's avatar
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    Default Get that planet out of here

    Let's say we really need to move the Earth closer to, or further away from, the Sun. What's a good way to do that? (Either with technology that exists today, or a direct development of existing technology.)

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    There was a paper some years ago that detailed how to nudge an asteroid into slingshot orbits between here and Jupiter to give the Earth repeated gravity tugs. http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/as ... -orbit.htm

    Pretty simple, actually, and quite possible with today's technology. Takes some time though. Okay, and we may lose the moon. And accidentally destroy most life on Earth. Still cool.

  3. #3
    Oliphaunt Baldwin's avatar
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    Quote Originally posted by Yocto
    There was a paper some years ago that detailed how to nudge an asteroid into slingshot orbits between here and Jupiter to give the Earth repeated gravity tugs. http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/as ... -orbit.htm

    Pretty simple, actually, and quite possible with today's technology. Takes some time though. Okay, and we may lose the moon. And accidentally destroy most life on Earth. Still cool.
    About that Moon -- what if we put a shitload of radioactive waste up there, and put Martin Landau in charge of it . . . .

  4. #4
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    I also read somewhere, that we could use the moon as a gravitational tug-boat. It would take hundreds or thousands of years of effort, but you could set up a HUGE amount of HUGE boosters on the moon, and if you can find a way to convert its matter into energy, you could very slowly move it away from the sun, tugging the earth with it.

    Not sure if I got all that right, but I think that was the idea. Wish I had a link, but I read that a few years ago.
    ????

  5. #5
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    I'd also like to add that no matter how technologically advanced we get, I think it would be essentially impossible to move the earth in any reasonable amount of time, without completely destroying it. If we have the capacity to move planets, we probably have the capacity for interstellar travel. Probably best to just find a new home somewhere else.

    Of course, we could always just use Archimedes method. Anybody know of a firm place to stand?
    ????

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    Quote Originally posted by cmyk
    I also read somewhere, that we could use the moon as a gravitational tug-boat. It would take hundreds or thousands of years of effort, but you could set up a HUGE amount of HUGE boosters on the moon, and if you can find a way to convert its matter into energy, you could very slowly move it away from the sun, tugging the earth with it.

    Not sure if I got all that right, but I think that was the idea. Wish I had a link, but I read that a few years ago.
    The problem with this is that you'd need to generate enough thrust to allow the exhaust to escape the Moon's sphere of influence (otherwise it will just oscillate forward and in the same orbit) but the same forces will apply shearing stresses that will probably cause the Moon to fragment; this is probably not a practical plan. You could possibly use one of the smaller gas giants by balancing a thruster on the gaseous atmosphere and siphoning it off for propellant (suggested in the Larry Niven novel A World Out Of Time), but not with anything like conventional technology.

    If you have the technical ability and energy resources to move worlds, you probably have the ability to build and maintain large artificial habitats.

    Stranger
    Some people just aren't happy unless the world is about to come to a bloody and fiery end.- Diana

  7. #7
    Elephant
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    Yeah, the big problem moving the Earth would be the effect ON the Earth.

    Earthquakes, Volcanos, Tidal Waves, blah, blah, blah.

    Excuse me if I'd rather be somewhere else during the process.
    I reserve the right to be bothered by things that don't faze you,
    and to cheerfully ignore things that bug the shit out of you.
    I am not you.

  8. #8
    Oliphaunt Baldwin's avatar
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    Quote Originally posted by cmyk
    I also read somewhere, that we could use the moon as a gravitational tug-boat. It would take hundreds or thousands of years of effort, but you could set up a HUGE amount of HUGE boosters on the moon, and if you can find a way to convert its matter into energy, you could very slowly move it away from the sun, tugging the earth with it.

    Not sure if I got all that right, but I think that was the idea. Wish I had a link, but I read that a few years ago.
    Well, since the Moon has no atmosphere, people have long speculated about setting up big ol' mass drivers on the surface and shooting Lunar material into orbit to act as construction material. I don't see why you couldn't pump that baby up to Lunar escape velocity, something like a mile and a half a second.

    Wait a sec -- you'd need the ejected material to escape from the Earth-Moon system, so I guess you'd need Earth escape velocity, about seven miles a second. (Actually, I'm pretty sure it's more complicated than that, but I forgot to get a degree in celestial mechanics.)

    In any case, as you noted, it'd take a long time.

  9. #9
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    Well, you could always just move it one truckload at a time.


    :mrgreen:
    ????

  10. #10
    Confused Box Guy fachverwirrt's avatar
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    Default Re: Get that planet out of here

    Just get Ceti Alpha VI to explode.

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