Prevent meteors with sunlight

Projecting solar energy into dangerous meteorites so that they change direction or dissolve is the way scientists want to apply to prevent "sky rocks" capable of hitting the globe.

A meteorite fell in central Russia, injuring more than 1,000 people and breaking thousands of glass windows. It happened only hours before Philip M. Lubin, a physicist at the University of California in the US, and his colleagues announced a very new meteor prevention system, Space reported.

"Humans must be proactive when dealing with meteorological hazards. Avoiding or waiting for them is not a wise choice. We really have a solution to stop them," Lubin said.

Illustration of a solar light conversion system
laser beams to project a meteorite near the globe. (Photo: Space)

Lubin's group came up with the idea of ​​designing a solar meteorite blocking system. The system, called DE-STAR , (Directed Energy Solar Targeting of Asteroids and exploration) will receive sunlight and turn it into powerful laser pulses to shine on nearby meteorites. Those laser pulses can deflect asteroid's flight or cause them to vanish.

"This system is very similar to the idea in Star Trek. All components of the system are existing in today's society," commented Gary B. Hughes, a researcher at California Polytechnic University.

Lubin recognizes that a meteorite prevention system can be as small as a desktop computer, but can also be very large with a diameter of up to 10km. Such a system will "consume" several hundred million dollars and must be assembled on earth orbit from small components. The system will serve both precious metal mining activities on meteors and space exploration.

"If humans can focus energy on a distant object in the universe, we will see the birth of a generation of spacecraft capable of flying many times faster than current spacecraft. According to our calculations, the technology could help humans build a one-ton spacecraft capable of flying to Mars in 15 days, at which rate we could conquer far more planets. Fire, " Hughes said.