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When Worlds Collide (1951 film)
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When Worlds Collide
Worldcollide.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Rudolph Maté
Produced by
George Pal
Written by
Sydney Boehm
Novel
Edwin Balmer
Philip Wylie
Starring
Richard Derr
Barbara Rush
Peter Hansen
John Hoyt
Music by
Leith Stevens
Cinematography
W. Howard Greene
 John F. Seitz
Edited by
Arthur P. Schmidt
Distributed by
Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)
November 22, 1951 (Los Angeles)[1]

Running time
83 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Box office
$1.6 million (US rentals)[2]
When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1933 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The film was shot in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté, and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects.[3]
Producer George Pal considered making a sequel based on the novel After Worlds Collide, but the box office failure of his 1955 Conquest of Space made it impossible.[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception
5 Cultural references
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links

Plot[edit]
Pilot David Randall is paid to fly top-secret photographs from South African astronomer Dr. Emery Bronson to Dr. Cole Hendron in America. Hendron, with the assistance of his daughter Joyce, confirms their worst fears—Bronson has discovered a star named Bellus that is on a collision course with Earth.
Hendron warns the delegates of the United Nations that the end of the world is little more than eight months away. He pleads for the construction of spaceships to transport a lucky few to Zyra, a planet in orbit around Bellus, in the faint hope that it can sustain life and save the human race from extinction. However, other, equally distinguished scientists scoff at his claims, and he is not believed. Hendron receives help from wealthy humanitarian friends, who arrange a lease on a former proving ground to construct a spaceship. To finance the construction, Hendron is forced to accept money from self-centered, wheelchair-bound industrialist Sidney Stanton. Stanton demands the right to select the passengers, but Hendron insists that he is not qualified to make those choices and that all he can buy is a single seat on the ark.
Joyce becomes attracted to Randall and prods her father into finding reasons to keep him around, much to the annoyance of her boyfriend, medical doctor Tony Drake. The ship's construction is a race against time. As Bellus nears, and Hendron’s predictions become apparent, former skeptics admit that Hendron is right and governments prepare for the inevitable. Groups in other nations also begin building ships. Martial law is declared and residents in coastal regions are moved to inland cities.
Bellus first makes a close approach, its gravitational attraction causing massive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tidal waves that wreak havoc. Several people are killed at the construction camp, including Dr. Bronson. In the aftermath, Drake and Randall travel by helicopter to provide assistance to survivors. When Randall alights to rescue a little boy, Drake has to resist a strong temptation to strand him.
As the day of doom approaches, the ship is loaded with food, medicine, microfiche copies of books, equipment, and animals. Finally, most of the passengers are selected by lottery, though Hendron reserves seats for a handful of people: himself, Stanton, Joyce, Drake, pilot Dr. George Frey, the young boy who was rescued, and Randall, for his daughter's sake. When a young man turns in his winning ticket because his girl was not selected, Hendron arranges for both to go. Randall refuses his seat and only pretends to participate in the lottery, believing that he has no useful skills. For Joyce's sake, Drake fabricates a "heart condition" for Frey, making a backup pilot necessary. Randall is the obvious choice.
The cynical Stanton becomes increasingly anxious as time passes. Knowing human nature, he fears what the desperate lottery losers might do. As a precaution, he has stockpiled weapons. Stanton's suspicions prove to be well-founded. His much-abused assistant, Ferris, tries to get himself added to the crew at gunpoint, only to be shot dead by Stanton. During the final night, the selected passengers and animals are quietly moved to the launch pad to protect them from more violence.
Shortly before takeoff, many of the lottery losers riot, taking up Stanton's weapons to try to force their way aboard. Hendron stays behind at the last moment, forcibly keeping the crippled Stanton and his wheelchair from boarding in order to lighten the spaceship. With an effort born of desperation, Stanton stands up and starts walking in a futile attempt to board the ship before it takes off.
The crew are rendered unconscious by the acceleration and do not witness the disturbing view of Earth's collision with Bellus, shown on the television monitor. When Randall comes to and sees Dr. Frey already awake, he realizes he was deceived.
As they approach Zyra, the fuel runs out and Randall has to make an unpowered rough landing. The passengers disembark and find the planet to be habitable. David Randall and Joyce Hendron walk hand in hand to explore their new home.
Cast[edit]
Richard Derr as David Randall
Larry Keating as Dr. Cole Hendron
Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron, his daughter
John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton
Peter Hansen as Dr. Tony Drake
Alden Chase as Dr. George Frey, Dr. Hendron's second in command
Hayden Rorke as Dr. Emery Bronson
Frank Cady as Harold Ferris, Stanton's assistant
Production[edit]
A film based on the original novels had first been considered by Cecil B. DeMille during the 1930s. When George Pal began producing his own film version, he initially wanted a more lavish production with a larger budget, but he wound up being forced to scale back these plans.[4]
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was first considered for the role of Dave Randall, but Richard Derr was finally hired for the part.[5]
Chesley Bonestell is credited with the artwork used for the film; he created the design for the space ark that was constructed to journey to the other world. The final scene in the film, showing the sunrise landscape of the alien world, was taken from a Bonestell sketch. Because of budget constraints, the director was forced to use this color sketch rather than a finished matte painting, drawing criticism. The additional poor quality still image showing a drowned New York City is often attributed to Bonestell but it was not actually drawn by him.[6]
The Differential analyzer at UCLA is shown briefly near the beginning of the film: It verifies the initial hand-made calculations, confirming "There is no error."[4]
Reception[edit]
Freelance writer Melvin E. Matthews calls the film a "doomsday parable for the nuclear age of the '50s".[7] Emory University physics professor Sidney Perkowitz notes that this film is the first in a long list of movies where "science wielded by a heroic scientist confronts a catastrophe". He calls the special effects exceptional.[8] Librarian and filmographer Charles P. Mitchell was critical of the "scientific gaffes that dilute the storyline", as well as a "failure to provide consistent first class effects". He pointed out that there were inconsistencies in the script, such as the disappearance of Dr. Bronson in the second half of the film,[Note 1] and the story of what happened with the sister spacecraft being built by other nations. He summarizes by saying that, "the large number of plot defects are annoying and prevent this admirable effort from achieving top-drawer status".[5]
Cultural references[edit]


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011)
When Worlds Collide is one of the many classic films referenced in the opening theme ("Science Fiction/Double Feature") of both the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show (1973) and its cinematic counterpart, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1976).
When Worlds Collide is the title of a 1975 album (the related single is "Did Worlds Collide?") by Richard Hudson and John Ford, their third release after leaving Strawbs.
In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), two cargo containers can be seen labeled "Bellus" and "Zyra" in the Genesis cave.
In the film L.A. Confidential (1997), the publisher of a trashy tabloid arranges for a publicity-loving LAPD officer to arrest a young actor on the night of this film's premiere, resulting in photos of the arrest with the theatre holding the premiere in the background accompanied by the headline "Movie Premiere Pot Bust" (the scene is shown taking place in 1953, long after the 1951 premiere of When Worlds Collide).
"When Worlds Collide" is the title of a single by the heavy metal band Powerman 5000 from the 1999 album Tonight the Stars Revolt!
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Dr. Bronson was mentioned as arriving at Hendron's camp in dialog and depicted as being killed when a construction crane fell on him during the devastating passage of Zyra; these occurrences were missed by Mr Mitchell
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ TCM "When Worlds Collide" Accessed July 20, 2013
2.Jump up ^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
3.Jump up ^ Sullivan, III, C. W. (2011), Hochscherf, Tobias; Leggott, James; Palumbo, Donald E. et al., eds., British Science Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays, Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy 29, McFarland, p. 21, ISBN 0-7864-4621-8
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Warren, Bill. Keep Watching The Skies Vol I: 1950 - 1957, pgs. 151 - 163, McFarland, 1982. ISBN 0-89950-032-3.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Mitchell, Charles P. (2001), A guide to apocalyptic cinema, Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 252–254, ISBN 0-313-31527-2
6.Jump up ^ Miller, Ron; Bonestell, Chesley; Durant, Frederick C.; Schuetz, Melvin H. (2001), The art of Chesley Bonestell, HarperCollins, p. 65, ISBN 1-85585-905-X
7.Jump up ^ Matthews, Melvin E. (2007), Hostile aliens, Hollywood, and today's news: 1950s science fiction films and 9/11, Algora Publishing, pp. 73–74, ISBN 0-87586-497-X
8.Jump up ^ Perkowitz, S. (2007). Hollywood science: movies, science, and the end of the world. Columbia University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-231-14280-3.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide at AllMovie
When Worlds Collide at the Internet Movie Database
When Worlds Collide at Rotten Tomatoes
When Worlds Collide at the TCM Movie Database


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Asteroids in fiction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Asteroidsand asteroid beltsare a staple of science fictionstories. Asteroids play several potential roles in science fiction: as places which human beings might colonize; as resources for extracting minerals; as a hazard encountered by spaceships traveling between two other points; and as a threat to life on Earth due to potential impacts.


Contents [hide]
1Overview
2Early examples
3Real asteroids in fiction3.1Ceres
3.2Eros
3.3Pallas
3.4Juno
3.5Vesta
3.6Icarus
3.7Other asteroids
4Common themes4.1Colonization
4.2Mineral extraction
4.3Navigational hazard
4.4Collisions with planets
4.5As weapons
4.6Fifth planet
4.7New asteroid belts
4.8Spacecraft
5Extrasolar asteroids
6Games involving asteroids
7References
8External links

Overview[edit]
When the theme of interplanetary colonization first entered science fiction, the Asteroid Belt was quite low on the list of desirable real estate, far behind such planets as Marsand Venus(often conceived as a kind of paradise planet, until probes in the 1960s revealed the appalling temperatures and conditions under its clouds). Thus, in many stories and books the Asteroid Belt, if not a positive hazard, is still a rarely visited backwater in a colonized Solar System.[1]
The prospects of colonizing the Solar System planets dimmed as they became known to be not very hospitable to life. However, the asteroids came to be imagined as a vast accumulation of mineral wealth, accessible in conditions of minimal gravity, and supplementing Earth's presumably dwindling resources—though the value of such minerals would have to be very high indeed to make such enterprises economically viable. Stories of asteroid mining multiplied after the late 1940s, accompanied by descriptions of a society living in caves or domes on asteroids, or (unscientifically) providing the asteroid with an atmosphere held in place by an "artificial gravity".
The idea of such isolated settlements, coupled with existing stereotypes of American mineral prospectors in the 19th century "Wild West", gave rise to the stock character of a "Belter" or "Rock Rat" – a rugged and independent-minded individual, resentful of state or corporate authority.[2]Among such works is Ben Bova's Asteroid Warsseries.
Another way in which asteroids could be considered a source of danger is by depicting them as a hazard to navigation, especially threatening to ships traveling from Earth to the outer parts of the Solar System and thus needing to pass the Asteroid Belt (or make a time- and fuel-consuming detour around it). In this context, asteroids serve the same role in space travel stories as reefs and underwater rocks in the older genre of seafaring adventure stories.[3]And like such hazards, asteroids could also be used by bold outlaws to avoid pursuit. Representations of the Asteroid Belt in film tend to make it unrealistically cluttered with dangerous rocks, so dense that adventurous measures must be taken to avoid an impact, giving dramatic visual images which the true nearly empty space would not provide. One of the best-known examples of this is the Hothsystem in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
In reality asteroids, even in the main belt, are spaced extremely far apart. Proto-planets in the process of formation and planetary rings may look like that, but the Sun's asteroid belt does not. (The asteroid belt in the HD 69830system may, however.) The asteroids are spread over such a high volume that it would be highly improbable even to pass close to a random asteroid. For example, the numerous space probessent to the outer solar system, just across the main asteroid belt, have never had any problems, and asteroid rendezvous missions have elaborate targeting procedures. The movie 2001: A Space Odysseyis unusual in that it does portray realistically the ship's "encounter" with a lone asteroid pair.
A common depiction of asteroids and cometsin fiction is as a threat, whose impact on Earth could result with incalculable damage and loss of life.[4][5]This has a basis in scientific hypotheses regarding such impacts in the distant past as responsible for the extinction of the dinosaursand other past catastrophes —though, as they seem to occur within tens of millions of years of each other, there is no special reason (other than creating a dramatic story line) to expect a new such impact at any close millennium.
In earlier works, asteroids provided grist for theories as to their origin – specifically, the theory that the asteroids are remnants of an exploded planet. This naturally leads to SF plot-lines dealing with the possibility that the planet had been inhabited, and if so – that the inhabitants caused its destruction themselves, by war or gross environmental mismanagement. A further extension is from the past of the existing asteroids to the possible future destruction of Earth or other planets and their rendering into new asteroids.[6][7]
Early examples[edit]
The earliest explicit references to asteroids date from the late nineteenth century:
Hector Servadac, Voyages et ADVENTURES à travers le Monde Solaire(Off on a Comet, 1877), novel by Jules Verne. A Victorianvision of touring the solar system viahandy "comet Gallia", the comet captures the "recently discovered asteroid Nerina" as it traverses the asteroid belt. Nerina was fictional at the time, but 1318 Nerinawould be discovered and named by Cyril V. Jackson nearly sixty years later.
Edison's Conquest of Mars(1898), serial by Garrett P. Serviss. A fleet of spaceships from Earth on its way to attack Mars halts at an asteroid that is being mined for gold by the Martians.
La Chasse au météore("Hunt for the Meteor", or "Chase of the Golden Meteor", 1908), by Julesand Michel Verne. This posthumously published Jules Vernenovel was extensively edited and modified by his son Michel. The attribution of plot elements between father and son was long debated, until Verne's original version was unearthed. The book begins with the rivalry between two amateur astronomers who both claim discovery of a new asteroid. Originally an in-crowd issue among astronomers, it becomes a major worldwide problem when it is found that the asteroid is about to fall on Earth (to be exact, in Greenland). One of The Adventures of Tintinhas a similar premise: The Shooting Star. Unlike later asteroid books, the main problem is not the damage which its fall may cause, but the fact that it is made of solid gold, which could upset the economy of the world. Thus, the asteroid's eventual fall into the Atlantic and its disappearance beneath the waves is presented as a satisfactory aversion of the economic danger, and there are none of the huge and highly destructive tsunami which in later stories (and in reality) would have followed.[8]Fred Hoyle's Element 79(1967) exploits essentially the same plot device: an asteroid with significant amount of gold wreaks havoc with the Earth's economy.
The Valley of Fear(1914), short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes's arch-enemy, "is the celebrated author of 'The Dynamics of an Asteroid', a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of criticizing it" Though the Holmes stories were published at the same time as those by H. G. Wells, Holmes regards astronomical studies as an issue of pure abstract science, which would never have practical applications or provide the scene of future adventures.
"Asterite Invaders" (1932–33), a storyline in the Buck Rogerscomic strip, featuring miniature humanoids living on the asteroids.
Le Petit Prince(The Little Prince, 1943), novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The title characterlives on an asteroid named "B-612". He then travels among various asteroids, each inhabited by a single person: a lamp-lighter, a king, a businessman, a geographer . . . . Saint-Exupéry made no effort at scientific accuracy, since he was mainly writing social and political commentary and satire. (For example, his reference to "Baobab trees which, if not uprooted in time, might take root and break an asteroid to pieces" is commonly understood as an allegory of Fascism). The asteroid moonPetit-Princewas named after the character, and 46610 Bésixdouzeafter his asteroid.
Real asteroids in fiction[edit]
Although the asteroids are commonly dealt with en masse, a few Main Beltasteroids have become well enough known to be named in fictional treatments.
Ceres[edit]
Main article: Ceres in fiction
Dwarf planetCeresis the largest and first discovered planetoid of the main-belt asteroids.
Eros[edit]
After Ceres, Asteroid 433 Erosis perhaps the most-commonly mentioned asteroid, probably because it is one of the largest near-Earth asteroids.
“Our Distant Cousins” (1929), short story by Lord Dunsany. An enterprising aviator flies to Mars, but ends up on Eros on his return trip due to a navigation error. Everything on Eros is tiny due to its small size and gravity; the aviator brings a tiny elephantback to Earth in a matchbox, but it escapes.[9]
"On the Planetoid Eros" (1931), a storyline in the Buck Rogerscomic strip.
Dig Allen Space Explorer(1959–1962) series of juvenile novels by Joseph Greene. Eros turns out to be a disguised alien spaceship.
Space Angel(1962–1964) Cambria ProductionsTV series. In the episode 'The Visitor from Outer Space,' Scott McCloud and his crew are forced to destroy Eros by deflecting it into the Sun, when it becomes a hazard to spaceship navigation.
Captive Universe(1969), novel by Harry Harrison. Eros has been converted into a vast hollow generation ship, the interior of which provides the setting for the story.
Ender's Game(1985), novel by Orson Scott Card. Eros was formerly an outpost for the aliens known as Formicswho installed artificial gravitybut was taken over by humans and a Command Schoolwas built there. This is where Enderwas sent after he graduated from Battle School.
Vacuum Flowers(1987), a novel by Michael Swanwick, is set partly in "Eros Kluster", a slum of jerry-rigged space stations orbiting 433 Eros.
Asteroid(1997), NBC's two-part miniseries features a series of asteroids heading towards Earth. Eros, the larger of the two asteroids is shattered into small fragments by the Air Force's ABLin an attempt to divert it from a certain impact on Earth. Eros still proceeds to rain over Dallas, Texas.
Justice League of America#26 (February 1999) by DC Comics. The JLA uses Eros as an inescapable prison for their unkillable foe, the General. He is simply deposited on the asteroid's flatter end. He later escapes with the aid of alien forces.
Evolution(2003), novel by Stephen Baxter. Eros plays an important role in the future evolution of life on Earth. Millions of years after being perturbed into a new orbit, the asteroid collides with Earth, bringing about another mass extinction. The micrometeoroid-ravaged shell of NEAR Shoemakerstill stands on the surface of Eros until seconds before the impact.
Leviathan Wakes(2011), novel by Daniel Abrahamwriting as James S.A. Corey. Supporting "a population of one and a half million", Eros is "a port of call in the first generation of humanity's expansion" into the outer solar system and is the setting for a large part of this science fiction series opener.
Pallas[edit]
Asteroid 2 Pallasis the third-largest main beltasteroid.
"Palladian Space Pirates" (1936), a storyline in the Buck Rogerscomic strip.
Seetee Shock (1949) and Seetee Ship (1951) novels by Jack Williamson in which many smaller asteroids are made of "contraterrene" or "seetee" matter, an early fictional name for antimatter. Pallas is made of normal matter and is the seat of government for the "Mandate" which oppressively governs the Asteroid Belt
Captain Futuremagazine, Winter 1942 ("Quest Beyond the Stars"), featured a version of Pallas known as the "Pirates' Planet."
"The Shrinking Spaceman", episode of Space Patrol(1962), puppet television series. When the Galasphere crew are sent to repair the sonar beam transmitter on the asteroid Pallas. Husky succumbs to a mysterious shrinking disease after cutting his hand on a rock. Keeping him in suspended animationProfessor Heggerty attempts to find a cure.
Pallas(1993), novel by L. Neil Smith. Emerson Ngu, a boy who lives in a dystopiansocialistcommune in a crater on the terraformed asteroidPallas, creates a crystal radio and is astonished to learn of the world outside the commune. Escaping, he discovers that the rest of Pallas is a libertarian utopia. Unable to forget his semi-enslaved family—whose "workers' paradise" is starving to death—he innovates a cheap but durable gun(because the Libertarians on Pallas, to their shame, did not have a domestic firearms industry), and sets about liberating his former commune. The book was partly inspired by the 1987 article "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race" written by Jared Diamond. The book also includes a brief description of a way to encapsulate the entire surface of a small body such as an asteroid to enable creating an Earthlike environment.
Juno[edit]
Asteroid 3 Junois one of the largest main beltasteroids, being the second heaviest of the stony S-type.
Mobile Suit Gundam(1979), a Real Robotanimedirected by Yoshiyuki Tomino. The asteroid Juno, renamed Luna 2, has been placed into Lunar orbit, opposite the moon for the purpose of supplying materials for space colony construction. It is later retrofitted into a military base for the Earth Federation.
Eon(1985), science fiction novel by Greg Bear. Juno appears as a hollowed out asteroid/starship from the future, called the Thistledown.
The title character of the song "The Lean Green Vegetable Fiend (From 'Tuther Side Of The Moon)" by Nervous Norvushails "from Juno, on the other side of the moon-o".
Vesta[edit]
Asteroid 4 Vestais the second largest of the asteroids.
"Marooned Off Vesta" (1939), short story by Isaac Asimov. The surviving passengers of a wrecked spaceship are stranded in orbit around the asteroid Vesta. This was Asimov's first published work.
Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn, 1958 novel by Isaac Asimov. Vesta is the site of an interstellar peace conference.
Known Spaceseries (1964 onward) by Larry Niven. Vesta is the site of one of the larger bases in the belt. It is a media center for the belt, and home of the Vesta Beam.
Portions of Christopher L. Bennett's upcoming first original novel Only Superhuman(due for release in October 2012) take place on asteroid habitats in orbit of Vesta.
Icarus[edit]
Asteroid 1566 Icarusis best known for its close approach to Earth and the Sun.
"Summertime on Icarus" (aka 'Icarus Ascending', 1960), short story by Arthur C. Clarke. An astronaut is stranded on Icarus as it approaches perihelion.
In the Ocean of Night(1977), novel by Gregory Benford. An asteroid named Icarus plays a major role.
Lucifer's Hammer(1977), novel by Larry Nivenand Jerry Pournelle. The 1968 passing of Icarus is mentioned several times. However, the actual impactor is a comet, perturbed by a passage of the hypothetical dwarf star Nemesis.
The Memory of Whiteness(1985), novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. Icarus is inhabited by a religious cult that worships its close approaches to the Sun.
Icarus's Way(a.k.a. The Trip of Icarus) (1974), novel by Lyuben Dilov. Icarus is equipped with engines and turned into a large spaceship travelling for generations through the Universe.[10]
Alley Oop, newspaper comic strip. During Icarus' 1968 passage the character Doc Wonmug electrostatically deflects it away from a collision with Earth.
Other asteroids[edit]
Explorers on the Moon(1952), comic in The Adventures of Tintinseries by Hergé. As Tintinand his friends are en route to the moon, 2101 Adonisunexpectedly comes perilously close to the spacecraft. During a spacewalk, Captain Haddockinadvertently goes into orbit around the asteroid and has to be rescued.
Space Apprentice(1962), novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. A scientific station on 15 Eunomiais annihilating large fragments of the asteroid in its advanced experiments, and a mineon 324 Bambergaproduces "space pearls".
15 Eunomiais mentioned in the science-fiction novel Rendezvous With Rama(1973), by Arthur C. Clarke, as one of the five largest asteroids.
"The Fubar Suit" (1997), short story by Stephen Baxter. An astronaut explores 624 Hektor. Sample from 'The Baxterium' website.
Manifold: Time(1999), novel by Stephen Baxter. 3753 Cruithne. Humans send a pregnant genetically enhanced squid to operate equipment on the asteroid. The intelligent squids descended from the original colonist exploit Cruithne's mineral resources.
Dead Hand(2001), novel by Harold Coyle. The asteroid Nereus 1991 HWCimpacts Siberiatriggering a desperate struggle to prevent a renegade Russian general from using the Perimetrsystem to overthrow the Russian government.[11]
Common themes[edit]
Colonization[edit]
See also: Colonization of the asteroids
When the theme of interplanetary colonization first entered SF, the Asteroid Belt was quite low on the list of desirable real estate, far behind such planets as Marsand Venus(often conceived as a kind of paradise planet, until probes in the 1960s revealed uninhabitable temperatures with a deadly carbon dioxide and sulfur atmosphere under its clouds). Thus, in many stories and books the Asteroid Belt, if not a positive hazard, is still a rarely visited backwater in a colonized Solar System.
Seetee Shock(1949) and Seetee Ship(1951), novels by Jack Williamsonfeatured terraformedand antimatterasteroids.
Dumb Martian(1952), short story by John Wyndham. A ruthless Earth man buys a young Martian woman (Martians, in this story, being a humanoid race subject to Earth-human colonialism and exploitation). She is to serve as a companion in his five-year lonely tour of duty on an asteroid orbiting Jupiter. The power struggle between the two of them, isolated on the asteroid, forms the main plot, and the arrogant and chauvinistic Earth man finds the hard way that his "Dumb Martian" is not as dumb as he thought she was.
Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids(1953), juvenile novel by Isaac Asimov. The Asteroid Belt is the haunt of dangerous pirates. The hero, an agent of The Terran Empire, has not only his job but also a private score to settle with pirates who had killed his parents. In the end, however, the enlightened Empire gives former Pirate strongholds in terraformed asteroids a chance to stay on as law-abiding communities.[12]
"The Lonely" (1959), episode of The Twilight Zone, television series. A convict, living in exile on an asteroid for 40 years, is clandestinely given a robot woman as a companion.
"Island in the Sky" (Uncle $crooge#29, Mar. 1960), comic by Carl Barks. Scrooge McDuckscouted the asteroid belt to find a safe location for his money. The story depicts the asteroid belt as being much denser than it actually is. There are also many very large asteroids, some having atmospheres and inhabitants. At least one is a virtual paradise, replete with lush vegetation including bananas, papayas, apples, nuts, wild rice and melons.
"The Small Planets" (ca. 1960-62), episode of Gumbyanimation. Gumby searches for an asteroid to settle, but finds each one already inhabited by a reclusive and unfriendly child.
X-Men, comic book. The villain Magnetohas used an asteroid called Asteroid M(X-men#5, May 1964) as his base of operations, complete with an observation deck, hangar bays and medical facilities. The various facilities had technology that kept it concealed from standard detection technology.
"Tales of the Flying Mountains" (1970), short stories first published 1962–65 by Poul Anderson. Collection of short stories on the colonization of the asteroids.[13]
Protector(1973), novel, and other short stories by Larry Niven. These stories explore the psychology of the "Belters", people born and raised in asteroid colonies. A similar society in the "Serpent Swarm" of asteroids in the Alpha Centauri system, are featured in some stories of the Man-Kzin Warsseries.
Gundam, animeand novel series by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Asteroids are utilized for a variety of purposes. In Mobile Suit Gundam(1979), Several asteroids have been moved from the asteroid beltto positions in Earth's Lagrange points. The most prominent of these are Solomonand A Baoa Qu, major space fortresses of the Principality of Zeon. Juno, formerly a mining asteroid, is renamed Luna IIand moved to the L3Lagrangian pointopposite to the Moon. It becomes the Earth Federation's main space military base during and after the story. . Solomon and A Baoa Qu eventually fall into the Federation's hands, and are renamed Konpei Island and Gate of Zedan, respectively. In Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam(1985), Axisis a former asteroid mining colony that has become the stronghold of the Axis Zeonfaction. Originally located in the asteroid belt, Axis is equipped with thermonuclear pulse thrustersin order to travel to Earth. Axis arrives in the Earth Spherelate in the Gryps Conflict, and the alliances Axis forms drastically alter the balance of power.
The Venus Belt(1981), novel in the North American Confederationseries by L. Neil Smith. A social system of total free enterpriseon asteroids.
Ender's Game(1985) and Ender's Shadownovels by Orson Scott Card. The Asteroid Belt is mainly a military zone, housing the bases and institutions dedicated to the war against Earth's insectoid invaders. A major part of both books takes place at Command Schoolon 433 Eroswhere gifted children are kept in complete isolation and ruthlessly turned into tough fleet commanders, losing their childhood in the process.
The Way(1985–1996), series of novels by Greg Bear. There is a colony inside a hollowed-out asteroid.
Blue Mars(1996), novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. The colonization of asteroids and how new technology affects their development.
"Futurama" (1999–2003, 2008–). Humans have inhabited asteroids with single homes in the asteroid belt.
Asteroid Wars(2001–2007), novels by Ben Bova. Warfare by corporations for control of the asteroid belt.
Mineral extraction[edit]
The prospects of colonizing the Solar System planets became more dim with increasing discoveries about conditions on them. Conversely, the potential value of the asteroids increased, as a vast accumulation of mineral wealth, accessible in conditions of minimal gravity, and supplementing Earth's dwindling resources. Stories of asteroid mining became more and more numerous since the late 1940s, with the next logical step being depictions of a society on terraformed asteroids — in some cases dug under the surface, in others having dome colonies and in still others provided with an atmosphere which is kept in place by an artificial gravity.
An image developed and was carried from writer to writer, of "Belters" or "Rock Rats" as rugged and independent-minded individuals, resentful of all authority (in some books and stories of the military and political power of Earth-bound nation states, in others of the corporate power of huge companies). As such, this sub-genre proved naturally attractive to writers with Libertariantendencies. Moreover, depictions of the Asteroid Belt as The New Frontier clearly draw (sometimes explicitly) on the considerable literature of the Nineteenth-Century Frontierand the Wild West. And since (in nearly all stories) the asteroids are completely lifeless until the arrival of the humans, it is a New Frontier completely free of the moral taint of the brutal dispossession of the Native Americansin the original.
Seetee Ship(1951) and Seetee Shock(1949) by Jack Williamson. Earth, Mars, Venus and the Jovian Moons are all dominated by competing tyrannical political systems (a Communist one, a Fascist one, and a Capitalist "democracy" totally dominated by a single vast, all-owning and all-controlling corporation). The scattered, despised and numerically inferior asteroid miners are left as the sole remaining champions of individual liberty. The "Rock Rats" neatly turn the tables by finding out how to produce energy from the collision of matter and anti-matterasteroids (anti-matter or "Contraterrene" is the "Seetee" (C-T) of the title). Virtually unlimited energy is broadcast from the Asteroid Belt all over the Solar System, for everybody to tap and use completely free of charge — and all the oppressive systems go crashing down.
Beyond Mars(1952–1955), comic strip in The New York Sunday Newsby Jack Williamson. Loosely based on the novel Seetee Ship.
Catch That Rabbit, short story by Isaac Asimovin the collection I, Robot(1950). A lonely asteroid mining station is the location for an intractable robot mystery and tangle.
The Rolling Stones(1952), novel by Robert A. Heinlein. The family Stone travels to the Asteroid Belt, where the twins of the family hope to sell food and luxury items to the miners extracting radioactive ores.
Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet(1952), young adult novel by Harold L. Goodwinunder the pseudonym Blake Savage; alternately published under the title Assignment in Space with Rip Foster. Planeteer Rip Foster undertakes capturing an asteroid of pure thoriumand steering it to earth orbit.
The Rogue(1963), short story by Poul Anderson. A tense love affair takes place between an asterite entrepreneur, who represents a kind of reversion to 19th Century Capitalism, and a woman officer in a space warship sent by the Social Justice Party (in power at Washington D.C.) to clip that entrepreneur's wings. The encounter is the first skirmish in what eventually develops into a full-scale Asterite War of Independence(consciously modelled on the American one), told of in further stories. Anderson's asteroid stories were eventually collected in Tales of the Flying Mountains, where the flourishing Asteroid Republic makes of a terraformed asteroid the first interstellar ship, which in the course of generations would reach other stellar systems. The veterans who go along tell, for the edification of the young generation, their memoirs of the pioneering days.[13]
Known Space(1964 onward) series of stories by Larry Niven. The Solar System is divided between the U.N.-dominated Earth and the Asteroid Belt, two competing political and cultural entities whose rivalry might at any moment descend into a destructive war — forming the background to several books and the main theme of World of Ptavvs. In this universe, it is planets such as Marswhich are the neglected backwaters, Belters spurning them and their gravity wells as fit only for "Flatlanders".
The Men in the Jungle(1967), novel by Norman Spinrad. The Asteroid Belt is originally colonized by Afrikanerswho hog its mineral wealth and lord it over later-arrived immigrants from Third World countries — in effect recreating Apartheidall over again. A revolution culminates with the creation of the Belt Free State, a republic far less stable than Anderson's which is headed by the likeable though thoroughly corrupt Bart Fraden. The intervention of the Big Powers from Earth, seeking to control the same mineral wealth, leads to Fraden's overthrow and his escape out of the Solar System — setting the stage to further (quite grisly) adventures which are the book's main plot line.
"Tinker" (1975), short story in the collection High Justice, vol. 1 of the Future Historyseries by Jerry Pournelle. The Asteroid Belt is dominated by a consortium of multinational corporations(upgraded to multi-planetary corporations by this time). Pournelle deliberately turns upside down the well-established rules of this sub-genre by making the corporations and their field agent into the Good Guys of the story. The Bad Guys are the rugged miners of Jefferson Asteroid, who use assorted dirty tricks in their effort to get free of the corporations' rule — an aspiration which a character describes as "an atavistic nationalism for which there is no room in the Belt".
Heechee(1976–2004) series of stories by Frederik Pohl. Explorers discover an asteroid orbiting perpendicular to the solar plane, filled with hundreds of small spaceships left aeons ago by a mysterious alien race which humans call "Heechee". Named Gatewayby the discovers, the powerful nations of the world occupy the asteroid and subsequently form the Gateway Corporation to administer the object. Under their open eye, there develops a culture of adventurers and prospectors rather similar to that portrayed in other asteroid books. Here, however, the prospecting is not for mineral wealth but rather for interstellar discovery, to which the adventurers set out blindly in the hardly understood alien ships, in trips which can end with riches or death.
Red Dwarf(1988–1999), television series. Asteroids have presumably been mined for at least several decades, as Dave Listeris once heard singing a futuristic version of "Clementine" – "On an asteroid / Evacuating for a mine / Lived an old plutonium miner / And his daughter Clementine...". The Jupiter Mining Corporation, which operates the ship Red Dwarf, presumably mines on asteroids (Red Dwarf itself mined the Neptunian moon Triton, according to the novels).
The Stone Dogs(1990), novel in the Drakaseries by S. M. Stirling. The Asteroid Belt is a major arena of the decades-long struggle between "The Domination of the Draka", a political and military entity bent on conquering everybody else and reducing them to literal slavery, and its arch-enemy "The Alliance for Democracy". Following "The Final War" of that history's 1998, the tough Asteroid miners are the last holdout against the victorious Draka. Though they eventually defect to the Draka, they are first able to launch "New America", a huge starship carrying some 100,000 colonists to the stars, to keep the cause alive and fight again another day.
Heavy Time(1991), novel by C. J. Cherryh. Mining of the asteroid belt of Earth's solar system is a critical part of the economy in the 24th century. A dispute over mining rights to a particularly large asteroid rich with valuable minerals involves ASTEX, a giant mining corporation, and the book describes in detail ASTEX's mining operations in the asteroid belt.
Several short stories by Geoffrey A. Landis, including "Outsider's Chance" (1998) and "Betting on Eureka" (2005), deal with mining asteroids.[14]
Live Free or Die(2010), novel by John Ringo. Asteroids are melted by sunlight concentrated by a distributed network of orbital mirrors, allowing the centripetal forceof the asteroid's own rotation to separateit into concentric layers of its component materials, which are then peeled off one-by-one. One asteroid, known as Troy, is drilled into, stuffed with ice, and then melted, inflating it into a hollow metal shell nine miles in diameter and over a mile thick, which is then developed into a space station used to defend the solar system from invading aliens.
Navigational hazard[edit]
Another way in which asteroids could be considered a source of danger is by depicting them as a hazard to navigation, especially threatening to ships travelling from Earth to the outer parts of the Solar System and thus needing to pass the Asteroid Belt (or make a time- and fuel-consuming detour around it). Asteroids in this context provide to space travel stories a space equivalent of reefs and underwater rocks in the older genre of seafaring adventures stories. And like reefs and rocks in the ocean, asteroids as navigation hazards can also be used by bold outlaws to avoid pursuit.
Representations of the Asteroid Belt in film tend to make it unrealistically cluttered with dangerous rocks. In reality, even in the main belt, asteroids are spaced extremely far apart (even so, they can still be a risk to ships travelling at high speeds).
2001: A Space Odyssey(1968), film. 2001accurately (and, for a work of fiction, atypically) depicts a "close approach" between the Discovery Oneand a binary asteroid while en route to Jupiter. The scene simply cuts briefly to two lone rocks passing by the ship, with tens of thousands of kilometres to spare.
2061: Odyssey Three(1986), novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke dispenses with the relative monotony of the journey from the first book, and instead applies ominous parallels to the journey of the RMS Titanic. During writing the novel, the Titanic's wreckhad just been found.
The Wreck of The River of Stars(2003), novel by Michael Flynn. Themes of nauticaladventure novels are transferred to an Asteroid Belt environment, with a dramatic account of cumulative accidents, mismatched good intentions and power struggles among crew members in a former space luxury liner turned tramp freighter (the "River of Stars" of the title) which culminate in a disastrous collision with an asteroid.
Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets(2004), television drama documentaryby the BBC. The Pegasusencounters a binary asteroidfrom much closer than expected, and dubs the rocks "Hubris" and "Catastrophe" as a result.
Collisions with planets[edit]
A common depiction of asteroids (and less often, of comets) in fiction is as a threat, whose impact on Earth could result with incalculable damage and loss of life. This scenario is based on such past events as the impact event responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. Such events are, however, sufficiently rare that there is no special reason to expect such an impact in the near future.
"The Wandering Asteroid", episode of Space Patrol(1962), puppet television series. The Space Patrol crew accept a dangerous mission to destroy an asteroid deflected from its orbit by a cometarycollision and heading directly for the Martiancapital Wotan.
The Green Slime(1968), film. A rogue asteroid hurtles toward Earth. The astronauts leave Space StationGamma 3 and place bombs on the asteroid, finding it inhabited by strange blobs of glowing slime that are drawn to the equipment. Unfortunately for everyone, some of the slime is carried back on a space suitand soon evolves into tentacled creatures. The movie inspired the classic board gameThe Awful Green Things From Outer Space.
Rendezvous with Rama(1972), novel by Arthur C. Clarke. An asteroid impacts in Northern Italydestroys Padua, Veronaand Venice. In the aftermath of that disaster, a regular Spaceguard against rogue asteroids is formed, whose members are the protagonists in the main story line — a meeting with a mysterious alien space artifact.
Lucifer's Hammer(1977), novel by Jerry Pournelleand Larry Niven. Earth's population falls into panic at hearing of an impending collision with a space object, is falsely reassured when hearing that the object is not an asteroid but a comet "with the density of sundae", then finds out the hard way that at the speed of collision this still causes enormous damage and throws the world into total chaos.
The Hermes Fall(1978), novel by John Baxter. NASA discovers the asteroid Hermesis on a collision course with Earth and initiates a desperate attempt to deflect it.[15]
Meteor(1979), film. The asteroid Orpheus hurtles toward Earth after its orbit is deflected by a comet. The movie was inspired in part by a M.I.T.student report. Project Icarus(1968).
Impact!(1979), novel by R. V. Fodor & G. J. Taylor. A series of asteroid collisions trigger World War III.[16]
Shiva Descending(1980), novel by Gregory Benfordand William Rotsler,[17][18]
The Hammer of God(1993), novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Mankind tries to stop an asteroid named Kali from hitting the Earth.
SlidersEpisode 4, "Last Days"(1995), television. The sliders team must invent the atom bomb to deflect an asteroid that is on target to destroy the Earth.
Titan(1997), novel by Stephen Baxter. China tries to deflect an asteroid into Earth orbit to use as a weapons base, but instead causes it to hit Earth, presumably destroying all human life.
Deep Impact(1998). film. Based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel The Hammer of God, although the asteroid becomes a comet[19]An unsuccessful attempt to alter the course of the asteroid by detonating nuclear devices on its surface, after which the astronauts involved pilot their ship into the asteroid's path to prevent it hitting Earth.
Armageddon(1998), film. An asteroid is prevented from impacting the Earth by drilling into its core and planting nuclear bombs which split the asteroid in half. The two halves move in different directions and miss the Earth.
"Asteroid (2001), an episode of the radio drama series Radio Taleson National Public Radio. Based on the short story "The Star" by H. G. Wells, the drama chronicles the events surrounding the approach of an asteroid which is predicted to impact the earth and instead passes in a "near miss" that causes cataclysmic damage.
Terraforming Earth(2001), novel by Jack Williamson. An asteroid impact wipes out most life on Earth. The only remaining humans are a small group of clones on an automated moon base, tasked with rebuilding civilization.
"Fail Safe"(2002), episode of Stargate SG-1television series. A Goa'uld surreptitiously diverts an asteroid to a collision course with Earth.
"Collision Course" (2003–present), novel by Susan Nichols Ferrara.
"Impact Winter" (2004), episode of The West Wing, television series. The White Housestaff prepare for a possible asteroid impact on the Earth.
"Phantom Planet", the series finale of Danny Phantom(2004), features a giant asteroid originating from Saturn (nicknamed the "disasteroid" because of its enormous size) hurtling towards the Earth, with people helpless to stop it.
"Wizards vs. Asteroid" (2011), episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, has the Russo family hearing of a giant asteroid hurtling towards Earth, and they go into space to activate the missile that got stuck in it and failed to detonate.
As weapons[edit]
Protector(1973), novel by Larry Niven. Jack Brennan, a human turned into a "Pak Protector", commits genocide by causing an ice asteroid to collide with Mars, thereby causing a rise in the water content of its atmosphere and exterminating the native Martiansto whom water is a deadly poison.
Footfall(1985), novel by Jerry Pournelleand Larry Niven. Elephant-like aliens launch an asteroid which lands in the Indian Ocean, causing a huge tsunami which almost completely wipes out life in Indiaand causes enormous damage to all countries which have shores on that ocean.
Metal Armor Dragonar(1987), anime. The Lunar-based Giganos Empire uses a mass driverto fire asteroids at the Earthand space colonies.
Starship Troopers(1997), film, loosely based on the 1959 novel by Robert A. Heinlein. Aliens launch an asteroid at Earth, completely wiping out Buenos Aires. This is the opening move in the war.
Sunstorm(2005), novel by Stephen Baxterand Arthur C. Clarke. Extraterrestrials attempt to cause Earth's destruction by way of a "cosmic bullet" projectile sent into the Sun.
Live Free or Die(2010) and its sequel Citadelby John Ringo, in which asteroids are melted, inflated, and turned into unstoppable battleships of space.
Fifth planet[edit]
Before colonization of the asteroids became an attractive possibility, a main interest in them was theories as to their origin – specifically, the theory that the asteroids are remnants of an exploded planet. This naturally leads to SF plot lines dealing with the possibility that the planet had been inhabited, and if so – that the inhabitants caused its destruction themselves, by war or gross environmental mismanagement. A further extension is from the past of the existing asteroids to the possible future destruction of Earth or other planets and their rendering into new asteroids.
For a list of "fifth planets" in fiction, see Fictional planets of the Solar System
New asteroid belts[edit]
A theme related to that of the Fifth Planet is the generation of a new asteroid belt, via the demolition of a planet, sometimes the Earth. It should be noted that the energy required to reduce a planet such as Earth to loose rubble is truly enormous: about 2×1032J, equivalent to the Sun's entire luminous energy output for about a week![citation needed]
Facing the Flag(1896), novel by Jules Verne. A mad genius invents an enormously powerful new explosive, of which a few grams suffice to blow a passable tunnel through many metres of tough volcanic rock. One of the story's villains remarks that several thousand tons might be enough to blow up the entire Earth and render it into a new asteroid belt – which (though no character in the story has any desire to actually try it) seems to be the first time that such a suggestion was made in science fiction.
Worlds of the Imperium(1962), novel by Keith Laumer. The hero, travelling in a vehicle capable of traversing parallel worlds, passes many where Earth had been shattered in a cataclysmic war and was rendered into a scattered collection of asteroids. He gets a brief and horrifying glimpse of an asteroid on which a section of road is still visible. Later, he learns that our own Earth narrowly avoided a similar fate.
The Corridors of Time(1965), novel by Poul Anderson. Two groups, the Wardens and the Rangers, wage a relentless struggle for control of Earth and the Solar System. As a result, Marsis blown up and its remnants become a new Asteroid Belt. The two fighting sides tacitly agree to use more subtle forms of fighting, involving mainly time-travel.
The Venus Belt(1980), novel by L. Neil Smith. The "useless" planet Venus is deliberately blown up to create a new asteroid belt. It is part of a genre of asteroid SF in which asteroids are rated as more valuable than planets.
Spacecraft[edit]
The 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoonepisode "Poor Little Rich Turtle" includes Krangand Shreddertrying to turn an asteroid into a spacecraft.
Eon(1985), science fiction novel by Greg Bear. The asteroid Juno appears as a hollowed out asteroid/starship from the future, called the Thistledown.
Extrasolar asteroids[edit]
Some works of fiction take place on, or in, asteroid-like bodies or fields outside the Solar System:
Miners in The Sky(1967), novel by Murray Leinster. The ring system around Thotmess, a gas giantin the system of the star Niletus where planets are called for Ancient Egyptiangods, is a completely lawless place where "claim jumping" is frequent. Miners, riding small "donkey ships", need to contend with both the harsh natural environment and with fierce human competitors. They must be ready at any moment to take up a gun or a bazooka to defend their finds of "grey matrix in which abyssal crystals occur". (The reader is not told what this may be, except that it is evidently valuable enough to kill for.) The extra-solar environment is chosen by Leinster in order to convey the feeling of an ever-expanding frontier – Sol's own Asteroid Belt has become "tame", as did the rings of Saturn, and the rough adventurous types move further on. (The historical model is obviously the recurring Gold Rushof the Nineteenth Century, drawing adventurers in 1840s from the settled East Coast to wild California, and in 1890s from settled California to the wild Klondike).
Star Trek: The Original Seriesepisode For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky(1968). A generational ship called the Yonadais shaped like an asteroid.
The Mote in God's Eye(1974), novel by Jerry Pournelleand Larry Niven. The novel features the examination of evidence indicating the use of asteroids in planetary bombardment as the final strategy of a war that almost wipes out the warring species.
Outcasts of Heaven Belt(1978, expanded from a 1976 story), novel by Joan D. Vinge, in which an extraterrestrial solar system is originally named the "heaven belt," and colonized because its extensive asteroid belt gives access to resources.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope(1977), film by George Lucas. In demonstrating the ability of the newly constructed Death Starto destroy planets, Grand Moff Tarkindestroys the planet Alderaan, thereby creating an asteroid field that the Millennium Falconhaplessly stumbles into when attempting to visit the planet.
The Empire Strikes Back(1980), film. Han Soloenters an asteroid field to flee from the fleet of the evil Empire. Han then hides his ship, the Millennium Falconinside a giant asteroid; the ship then finds itself inside a colossal animalthat lives within the asteroid.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Centuryepisode "Golden Man" (1981, season 2). The spaceship Searcher enters the asteroid belt of the Alpha Centaurisystem and becomes trapped against an asteroid by a powerful magnetic stormwhile responding to a distress radiobeaconsignal, the plot involves the crew visiting an Earth-like planet Iris VII that exists within the belt so that they can escape the asteroid's gravity and destruction of the Searcher.[20][21]
Gap Cycle(1991–1996), series of novels by Stephen R. Donaldson's. Numerous human asteroid colonies, albeit not in the Solar System's Asteroid Belt.
Night's Dawn Trilogy(1996–1999), novel trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton. Worlds colonized by humans use asteroids as their main source of minerals and location of their industries. The asteroids are either in orbit around a colonized world, are moved into orbit to be used as a base for the industry, or are in an asteroid belt.
Halo: The Fall of Reach, novel by Eric Nylund(2001). Describes an assault by Spartanson a hidden rebel base located within a hollowed-out asteroid. A large hangar/airlock protects the internal atmosphere of the facility from vacuum.
Star Trek: Voyagerepisode Homestead(2001). A group of Talaxiansare living in an asteroid field which another race is trying to mine.
The Saga of Seven Suns(2003–present), series of novels by Kevin J. Anderson. A faction of humanity, "The Roamers", lives on asteroids.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith(2005), film. Padmégives birth to Lukeand Leiain an asteroid colony on Polis Massa.
"Scar" (2006), episode of Battlestar Galacticatelevision series. Raw materials are mined from an asteroid to gather resources vital to the fleet.
Halo: The Cole Protocol, novel by Tobias Buckell(2008). Describes a massive linked cloud of asteroids trailing the orbit of a gas giant. The links contain mass transit systems.
Games involving asteroids[edit]
Asteroids(1979), arcade video game by Atari, and its sequels such as Blasteroids. Collision is an ever-present hazard in a dense asteroid field.
Wing Commander: Privateer(1993), computer game. Several space stations are inside asteroids.
K240(1994), computer game for the Amiga. Very similar in terms of game play and plot to the game's 1997 successor Fragile Allegiance.
Outpost(1994), computer game. The Earth is threatened by an asteroid named Vulcan's Hammer. A plan is made to stop the asteroid, with a nuclear warhead. This however fails and splits the asteroid into two pieces, which collide with the Earth. With the Earth destroyed, a group of selected colonists head off into space, in search of new home.
2038; Tycoons of the Asteroid Belt(1995), game by James Hlavaty and Tom Lehmann. Transposes the highly successful "18xx" series of railroad board games into the asteroid belt.
Descent(1995), computer game. Three secret levels take place on the asteroids Ceres, Eunomiaand another unidentified one.
The Dig(1995), computer game by LucasArtsand novelization by Alan Dean Foster. The impact-threatening asteroid Attila turns out to be an alien probe.
The Orion Conspiracy(1995), computer game. The Cerberus colony is on an asteroid.
Fragile Allegiance(1997), computer game. Is a 4X real-time strategy game and spiritual successor to K240 that revolves around the colonization of asteroids in a far away asteroid belt so as to mine rare minerals whilst fighting off or taking over the settled asteroids of other mining companies.
Descent 3(1999), computer game. A mission takes place on Ceres.
Homeworld1999, game. In Mission 06: Diamond Shoals, the Kushanfleet must pass through a turbulent asteroid field, destroying asteroids before they impact the Mothership.
Terminus(2000), computer game. The Asteroid Belt offers possibilities for mining, as well as several missions in "story mode".
Asteroid Wars(2001–2007), series of novels by Ben Bova. A trade war over the mining of the Belt develops into a shooting war.
EVE Online(2003–present) is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing gamewith a fully player-driven economy, and most of the basic materials come from mining the countless asteroid belts.
Freelancer(2003), computer game. Several space stations are inside asteroids.
Millennium 2.2(1989), computer game. Asteroids are presented as both a mining opportunity (many minerals are only available to the player at first by mining asteroids) and as a shipping hazard.
Mass Effect series(2007-2012) - includes several asteroid-based locations, two space stations in hollowed-out asteroids, and one weaponized "planet-killer"-grade asteroid.
The Dead Spacevideo game series (2008–2012), produced by EA's Visceral Games. Features the strip mining of entire asteroids and even terrestrial planets to fuel 26th century humanity's resource consumption.
Space Engineers(2013) - Sandbox style building game. The main way to obtain resources, for both construction and energy, is by mining them from a varying number of nearby asteroids.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^Asimov, Isaac (March 1939). "Marooned off Vesta". Amazing Stories.
2.Jump up ^Williamson, Jack (1950). Seetee Ship.
3.Jump up ^Asimov, Isaac (1953). Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids.
4.Jump up ^Clarke, Arthur C. (1993). The Hammer of God.
5.Jump up ^Niven, Larry (1977). Lucifer's Hammer.
6.Jump up ^Hogan, James P. (1977). Inherit the Stars.
7.Jump up ^Heinlein, Robert (1948). Space Cadet.
8.Jump up ^Jacques Crovisier
9.Jump up ^Lord Dunsany, “Our Distant Cousins,” The Saturday Evening Post, November 23, 1929; collected in In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales, S. T. Joshi, ed., Penguin Classics, 2004.
10.Jump up ^Dilov, Lyuben (aka Lyubin, Luben or Liuben)(2002). Пътят на Икар. Захари Стоянов. ISBN 954-739-338-3.
11.Jump up ^Coyle, Harold(2001). Dead Hand. Forge. ISBN 0-812-57539-3.
12.Jump up ^Review of Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids[dead link]
13.^ Jump up to: ab"Tales of the Flying Mountains by Poul Anderson". fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved September 2012.
14.Jump up ^Review, Asimov's Science Fiction October/November 2005, Tangent Online2006-02-12 (retrieved Jun 11 2014)
15.Jump up ^Baxter, John(1978). The Hermes Fall. Granada (Panther). ISBN 0-586-04610-0.
16.Jump up ^Fodor, R. V.; Taylor, G. J. (1979). Impact!. Leisure Books. ISBN 0-8439-0648-0.
17.Jump up ^"SF Reviews Shiva Descending by Gregory Benford & William Rotsler". sfreviews.com. Retrieved September 2012.
18.Jump up ^Benford, Gregory; Rotsler, William(1980). Shiva Descending. Sphere. ISBN 978-0-8125-1690-6.
19.Jump up ^http://www.space-frontier.org/PROJECTS/ASTEROIDS/aclarke_address_may26-98.html[dead link]
20.Jump up ^""Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" The Golden Man (TV Episode 1981)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 2012.
21.Jump up ^"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)". Database of Movie Dialogs. Retrieved September 2012.
External links[edit]
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Evolution (Baxter novel)
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Evolution
StephenBaxter evolution.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Stephen Baxter
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Genre
Science fiction novel
Publisher
Orion Publishing Group

Publication date
 November 30, 2002
Media type
Print (Paperback & Hardback)
Pages
592 pp (DelRey Hardcover ed.)
ISBN
ISBN 0-575-07342-X (first edition, paperback) &
ISBN 0-575-07341-1 (hardback edition)
OCLC
50527130
Evolution is a collection of short stories that work together to form an episodic science fiction novel by author Stephen Baxter. It follows 565 million years of human evolution, from shrewlike mammals 65 million years in the past to the ultimate fate of humanity (and its descendants, both biological and non-biological) 500 million years in the future.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Plot summary[edit]
The book follows the evolution of mankind as it shapes surviving Purgatorius into tree dwellers, remoulds a group that drifts from Africa to a (then much closer) New World on a raft formed out of debris, and confronting others with a terrible dead end as ice clamps down on Antarctica.
The stream of DNA runs on elsewhere, where ape-like creatures in North Africa are forced out of their diminishing forests to come across grasslands where their distant descendants will later run joyously. At one point, hominids become sapient, and go on to develop technology, including an evolving universal constructor machine that goes to Mars and multiplies, and in an act of global ecophagy consumes Mars by converting the planet into a mass of machinery that leaves the Solar system in search of new planets to assimilate. Human extinction (or the extinction of human culture) also occurs in the book, as well as the end of planet Earth and the rebirth of life on another planet. (The extinction-level event that causes the human extinction is, indirectly, an eruption of the Rabaul caldera, coupled with various actions of humans themselves, some of which are only vaguely referred to, but implied to be a form of genetic engineering which removed the ability to reproduce with non-engineered humans.) Also to be found in Evolution are ponderous Romans, sapient dinosaurs, the last of the wild Neanderthals, a primate who witnesses the extinction of the dinosaurs, symbiotic primate-tree relationships, mole people, and primates who live on a Mars-like Earth. In the book's epilogue, it is implied that the replicator machines sent by humans to Mars have developed sentience and high technology, unknowingly advancing the late mankind's legacy in the Universe.
Reception[edit]
Peter Cannon reviewing for Publishers Weekly stated "here is a rigorously constructed hard SF novel where the question is not whether humanity will reach the stars but how it will survive its own worst tendencies."[1] Kirkus Reviews called this novel "glum, dyspeptic, and depressing."[2] Jackie Cassada said in her review for Library Journal that "spanning more than 165 million years and encompassing the entire planet, Baxter's ambitious saga provides both an exercise in painless paleontology and superb storytelling."[3]
Evolution has been compared to Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men and Baxter has acknowledged Stapledon's influence.[4]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Cannon, Peter (January 20, 2003). "EVOLUTION (Book)". Publishers Weekly 250 (3): 61. ISSN 0000-0019.
2.Jump up ^ "EVOLUTION (Book)". Kirkus Reviews 70 (22,): 1662. November 15, 2002. ISSN 0042-6598.
3.Jump up ^ Cassada, Jackie (February 15, 2003). "Evolution (Book)". Library Journal 128 (3): 172.
4.Jump up ^ "An Interview with Stephen Baxter". Aberrant Dreams. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
External links[edit]
Lengthy review at http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74240


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Works by Stephen Baxter


Xeelee Sequence
Raft ·
 Timelike Infinity ·
 Flux ·
 Ring ·
 Vacuum Diagrams ·
 Reality Dust ·
 Riding the Rock ·
 Resplendent ·
 Starfall
 

Destiny's Children
Coalescent ·
 Exultant ·
 Transcendent ·
 Resplendent
 

Manifold Trilogy
Time ·
 Space ·
 Origin ·
 Phase Space
 

Mammoth Trilogy
Silverhair ·
 Longtusk ·
 Icebones
 

A Time Odyssey
Time's Eye ·
 Sunstorm ·
 Firstborn
 

The Web Series
Gulliverzone ·
 Webcrash
 

Time's Tapestry
Emperor ·
 Conqueror ·
 Navigator ·
 Weaver
 

NASA Trilogy
Voyage ·
 Titan ·
 Moonseed
 

Flood/Ark
Flood ·
 Ark
 

Northland Trilogy
Stone Spring ·
 Bronze Summer ·
 Iron Winter
 

Others
"The Twelfth Album" ·
 Anti-Ice ·
 The Time Ships ·
 The Light of Other Days ·
 Evolution ·
 The H-Bomb Girl ·
 The Wheel of Ice ·
 The Long Earth ·
 The Long War ·
 The Long Mars
 

Unrelated collections
Traces ·
 The Hunters of Pangaea
 

 


Categories: 2003 novels
Novels by Stephen Baxter
British post-apocalyptic novels
Impact event novels
Novels about dinosaurs
2000s science fiction novels
2003 short story collections
Books about evolution
Evolution in popular culture
Hypothetical life forms
Evolutionary biology literature
Speculative evolution


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Leviathan Wakes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Leviathan Wakes

Author
James S. A. Corey
Cover artist
Daniel Dociu
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Expanse
Genre
Science fiction
Published
2011 (Orbit Books)
Media type
Print
Pages
582
Awards
2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel (Nomination)
 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Nomination)
ISBN
978-0-316-12908-4
Followed by
Caliban's War
Leviathan Wakes is a 2011 science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). It is about a conflict in the solar system that involves Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt (colonies of people living on asteroids, referred to as "Belters"). It is the first book in The Expanse series. It is followed by Caliban's War, Abaddon's Gate and Cibola Burn.
Leviathan Wakes was nominated for the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[1][2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Reception
3 Sequels
4 Television series
5 References
6 External links

Synopsis[edit]
Leviathan Wakes follows the character of Jim Holden, one of many citizens who have spread out over the solar system and inhabited the surrounding planets. Holden makes his living as an ice miner who accidentally comes across the remains of the Scopuli. It's on this ship that he discovers a secret that people are willing to kill and start wars for. At the same time, Detective Miller is searching for the daughter of a rich couple, his investigation bringing him to Holden and the remains of the Scopuli. The two men must work together to find out what is going on and keep themselves and everyone else alive.
Reception[edit]
Critical reception for Leviathan Wakes has been positive,[3][4] with Kirkus Reviews giving the novel praise.[5] The book's action sequences were highlighted by SF Signal,[6] and Tor.com wrote that the book had a "satisfying volume completion".[7] George R.R. Martin described Leviathan Wakes as a "kickass space opera" (comment printed on Caliban's War; Ty Franck works as his assistant[citation needed]), with Locus Online also praising the book.[8] Wired.com's GeekDad praised the novel for not containing "overly-complex descriptions of the way governments and corporations work" or "made-up words and cryptic names".[9]
Sequels[edit]
Leviathan Wakes was followed up by the novel Caliban's War in 2012 and Abaddon's Gate in 2013. It was announced in 2012 that Orbit Books had ordered a further three books in the Expanse series, in addition to five novellas set in the same universe.[10] The first of these sequels was announced in September 2013 as Cibola Burn[11] and was released on June 17, 2014 in hardcover, Kindle, and on Audible in the US.[12]
Television series[edit]
On April 11, 2014 Syfy announced that they gave a order for a direct-to-TV series based on the Leviathan Wakes and "The Expanse" series. The cable network ordered 10 episodes, produced by Alcon Television Group (ATG). Academy Award-nominated screenwriting duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (known for the films Children of Men and Iron Man) wrote the pilot; they will continue to serve as writers, as well as executive producers.[13]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "2012 Hugo Awards". Hugo Awards. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
2.Jump up ^ "Announcing the 2012 Locus Award Winners". Tor.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
3.Jump up ^ "In Brief: Science Fiction". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
4.Jump up ^ "Audiobook Reviews: LEVIATHAN WAKES". AudioFile Magazine. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "Review: Leviathan Wakes". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
6.Jump up ^ "REVIEW: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey". SF Signal. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
7.Jump up ^ Walton, Jo. "More like this, please: James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes". Tor.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
8.Jump up ^ Letson, Russell. "Russell Letson reviews James S.A. Corey". Locus Online. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Kelly, James. "A Great SciFi Mystery in Leviathan Wakes". Wired.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
10.Jump up ^ "Some Big News About The Expanse". Danielabraham.com. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
11.Jump up ^ "Cover Reveals! CIBOLA BURN by James S.A. Corey and THE WIDOW’S HOUSE by Daniel Abraham". SF Signal. 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
12.Jump up ^ "A night at the space opera, by Ellen Wright". 29 October 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
13.Jump up ^ Dragon, The (2014-04-11). "The Expanse - Syfy orders Drama based on Leviathan Wakes". Spoilertv.com. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
External links[edit]
The authors' blog
The series' web site
 


Categories: 2011 novels
2010s science fiction novels
American science fiction novels
Space opera novels
Mars in fiction
Novels by James S. A. Corey






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Caliban's War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Caliban's War

Author
James S. A. Corey
Cover artist
Daniel Dociu
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Expanse
Genre
Science fiction novel
Publisher
Orbit Books

Publication date
 2012
Media type
Print
Pages
595
ISBN
978-1-84149-990-1
Preceded by
Leviathan Wakes
Followed by
Abaddon's Gate
Caliban's War is a 2012 science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). It is about a conflict in the solar system that involves Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt (colonies of people living on asteroids, referred to as "Belters"). It is the second book in The Expanse series and is preceded by Leviathan Wakes. The third book, Abaddon's Gate, was released on June 4,[1] 2013.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Synopsis[edit]
Caliban's War continues the story from Leviathan Wakes, following Jim Holden and the crew of Rocinante. In the book they're drawn into a search for a missing child on the moon Ganymede, which is in the midst of war. Meanwhile on Earth tensions rise as interplanetary war looms and as a mysterious and alien protomolecule takes over the planet Venus and is poised to spread throughout the solar system.
Reception[edit]
Critical reception for Caliban's War was predominantly positive,[3][4] with Kirkus Reviews noting that the book could be enjoyed as a standalone novel but was "best appreciated after volume one".[5] Wired.com's Geek Dad and Publishers Weekly both praised the novel, with GeekDad citing the book's "believable human personalities and technology that is easily recognizable" as a highlight.[6][7] Tor.com gave an overall positive review for Caliban's War, but noted that there was "some rather tiresome dialogue in the cards, as well as an overabundance of laughably transparent politics, and a couple of at best cartoonishly characterised bad guys".[8]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Alexander, Niall (28 May 2013). "The Expanding Expanse: Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey". Tor.com. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
2.Jump up ^ Wright, Eddie. "Interview: James S.A. Corey Talks 'Caliban's War'". MTV Geek. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
3.Jump up ^ "Review: Caliban’s War". School Library Journal. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
4.Jump up ^ "Russell Letson review James S.A. Corey". Locus Online. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "Review: Caliban's War". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
6.Jump up ^ "Review: Caliban's War". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
7.Jump up ^ Kelly, James. "The Expanse, Book 2: Caliban’s War Review". Wired.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
8.Jump up ^ "Popcorn Space Opera: Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey". Tor.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
External links[edit]
The authors' blog
The series' web site
 


Categories: 2012 novels
Space opera novels
Mars in fiction
Novels by James S. A. Corey




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Abaddon's Gate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Abaddon's Gate
James S.A. Corey - Abaddon's Gate.jpeg
Author
James S. A. Corey
Original title
Dandelion Sky
Cover artist
Daniel Dociu
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Expanse
Genre
Science fiction novel
Publisher
4 June 2013 (Orbit Books)
Media type
Print (Softcover), Audio
Pages
539
Awards
2013 Goodreads Choice Awards, Best Science Fiction (Nomination)
ISBN
978-0-316-12907-7
Preceded by
Caliban's War
Followed by
Cibola Burn
Abaddon's Gate is a science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). It is about a conflict in the solar system that involves Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt (colonies of people living on asteroids, referred to as "Belters"). It is the third title of The Expanse series and is preceded by Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War.
The book was released on 4 June 2013.[1]
It was also released as an audiobook by Audible, narrated by Jefferson Mays.[2]
Synopsis[edit]
Abaddon's Gate takes place after Caliban's War, continuing to follow the crew of the Rocinante and their leader Jim Holden. In this book the crew is pulled to investigate a strange and massive gate, launched by an alien artifact to a point outside of Uranus's orbit. Holden, along with the other crews sent to study the artifact, have to discover whether this is a boon or a threat. Unbeknownst to Holden, he also has a mysterious group planning his death.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "James SA Corey - Abaddon's Gate cover art launch, synopsis and release date revealed".
2.Jump up ^ Abaddon's Gate Audiobook | James S.A. Corey | Audible.com
 


Categories: 2013 novels
Space opera novels
Mars in fiction
Novels by James S. A. Corey




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Leviathan Wakes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Cibola Burn)
Jump to: navigation, search

Leviathan Wakes

Author
James S. A. Corey
Cover artist
Daniel Dociu
Country
United States
Language
English
Series
The Expanse
Genre
Science fiction
Published
2011 (Orbit Books)
Media type
Print
Pages
582
Awards
2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel (Nomination)
 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Nomination)
ISBN
978-0-316-12908-4
Followed by
Caliban's War
Leviathan Wakes is a 2011 science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). It is about a conflict in the solar system that involves Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt (colonies of people living on asteroids, referred to as "Belters"). It is the first book in The Expanse series. It is followed by Caliban's War, Abaddon's Gate and Cibola Burn.
Leviathan Wakes was nominated for the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[1][2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Reception
3 Sequels
4 Television series
5 References
6 External links

Synopsis[edit]
Leviathan Wakes follows the character of Jim Holden, one of many citizens who have spread out over the solar system and inhabited the surrounding planets. Holden makes his living as an ice miner who accidentally comes across the remains of the Scopuli. It's on this ship that he discovers a secret that people are willing to kill and start wars for. At the same time, Detective Miller is searching for the daughter of a rich couple, his investigation bringing him to Holden and the remains of the Scopuli. The two men must work together to find out what is going on and keep themselves and everyone else alive.
Reception[edit]
Critical reception for Leviathan Wakes has been positive,[3][4] with Kirkus Reviews giving the novel praise.[5] The book's action sequences were highlighted by SF Signal,[6] and Tor.com wrote that the book had a "satisfying volume completion".[7] George R.R. Martin described Leviathan Wakes as a "kickass space opera" (comment printed on Caliban's War; Ty Franck works as his assistant[citation needed]), with Locus Online also praising the book.[8] Wired.com's GeekDad praised the novel for not containing "overly-complex descriptions of the way governments and corporations work" or "made-up words and cryptic names".[9]
Sequels[edit]
Leviathan Wakes was followed up by the novel Caliban's War in 2012 and Abaddon's Gate in 2013. It was announced in 2012 that Orbit Books had ordered a further three books in the Expanse series, in addition to five novellas set in the same universe.[10] The first of these sequels was announced in September 2013 as Cibola Burn[11] and was released on June 17, 2014 in hardcover, Kindle, and on Audible in the US.[12]
Television series[edit]
On April 11, 2014 Syfy announced that they gave a order for a direct-to-TV series based on the Leviathan Wakes and "The Expanse" series. The cable network ordered 10 episodes, produced by Alcon Television Group (ATG). Academy Award-nominated screenwriting duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (known for the films Children of Men and Iron Man) wrote the pilot; they will continue to serve as writers, as well as executive producers.[13]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "2012 Hugo Awards". Hugo Awards. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
2.Jump up ^ "Announcing the 2012 Locus Award Winners". Tor.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
3.Jump up ^ "In Brief: Science Fiction". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
4.Jump up ^ "Audiobook Reviews: LEVIATHAN WAKES". AudioFile Magazine. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "Review: Leviathan Wakes". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
6.Jump up ^ "REVIEW: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey". SF Signal. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
7.Jump up ^ Walton, Jo. "More like this, please: James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes". Tor.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
8.Jump up ^ Letson, Russell. "Russell Letson reviews James S.A. Corey". Locus Online. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Kelly, James. "A Great SciFi Mystery in Leviathan Wakes". Wired.com. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
10.Jump up ^ "Some Big News About The Expanse". Danielabraham.com. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
11.Jump up ^ "Cover Reveals! CIBOLA BURN by James S.A. Corey and THE WIDOW’S HOUSE by Daniel Abraham". SF Signal. 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
12.Jump up ^ "A night at the space opera, by Ellen Wright". 29 October 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
13.Jump up ^ Dragon, The (2014-04-11). "The Expanse - Syfy orders Drama based on Leviathan Wakes". Spoilertv.com. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
External links[edit]
The authors' blog
The series' web site
 


Categories: 2011 novels
2010s science fiction novels
American science fiction novels
Space opera novels
Mars in fiction
Novels by James S. A. Corey






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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cibola_Burn#Sequels








Deadly Skies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Deadly Skies

Distributed by
Genius Entertainment
Directed by
Sam Irvin
Produced by
James Shavick
Written by
Keith Shaw
Music by
Peter Allen
Vincent Mai
Editing by
Jason Pielak
Production company
Black Lagoon Productions
Country
Canada
 United States
Language
English
Release date
August 15, 2006

Running time
89 minutes
Deadly Skies is a 2006 science-fiction television film starring Antonio Sabato, Jr., Rae Dawn Chong, Dominic Zamprogna, Michael Boisvert, Rob LaBelle and Michael Moriarty. The plot concerns the effort of two astronomers and two military men to stop the threat of a giant asteroid on a collision course with Earth. The film is notable for being released in multiple versions for the United States and international markets. Deadly Skies is the American title, it includes a romantic relationship between Sabato's and Boisvert's characters. The censored international DVD versions, titled Ultimate Limit (UK) (DVD title) and Force of Impact (Canada: English title) (censored version) do not.
Plot[edit]
Madison (Chong) and her assistant Hockstetter (Zamprogna) are astronomers who track near-Earth objects in space. They are not taken seriously by the scientific community. When they locate and track a massive asteroid on a collision course for Earth, Madison takes her findings to government scientist Covington (LaBelle). Initially he pays her some attention but, under pressure from Air Force General Dutton (Moriarty), dismisses her. In desperation she takes her research to Donovan (Sabato), a former Air Force officer who was discharged under Don't ask, don't tell. Joining with Donovan's active-duty lover, Mark (Boisvert), the four hatch a plan to infiltrate an Air Force base that houses a massive laser weapon to destroy the asteroid. Despite resistance from Dutton and Air Force troops, the group is able to commandeer the weapon and use it to deflect the asteroid just enough so that it misses the planet.
Scenes removed from the censored version include a sex scene between Donovan and Mark, a line in which Donovan tells Madison why he was discharged and a second intimate scene between Donovan and Mark. Additionally, a short scene establishing a romantic interest between Donovan and Madison was added to the end of the censored version.
Cast[edit]
Antonio Sabato Jr. as Richard Donovan
Rae Dawn Chong as Madison Taylor
Michael Boisvert as Mark
Dominic Zamprogna as Hockstetter
Michael Moriarty as General Dutton
Rob LaBelle as Dr. Michael Covington
Hrothgar Mathews as Press Secretary
Doron Bell as Guard Stevens
Kirby Morrow as Corporal Carmichael
Sean Whale as Relief Bus Driver
Terri Anne Welyki as Swim Beauty #1
Holly Eglington as Swim Beauty #2
Jerry Cowan as Old Frenchman
Louis Chirillo as Outgoing Bus Driver
Chris Kalhoon as Patrolman
External links[edit]
Deadly Skies at the Internet Movie Database



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Asteroid impact avoidance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Asteroid deflection strategies)
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"Planetary defense" redirects here. For defending against alien invasion in fiction, see Alien invasion.



 Artist's impression of a major impact event. The collision between Earth and an asteroid a few kilometres in diameter releases as much energy as the simultaneous detonation of several million nuclear bombs.
Asteroid impact avoidance comprises a number of methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) could be diverted, preventing destructive impact events. A sufficiently large impact by an asteroid or other NEOs would cause, depending on its impact location, massive tsunamis, multiple firestorms and an impact winter caused by the sunlight blocking effect of placing large quantities of pulverized rock dust into the stratosphere. Massive impacts may also cause volcanic mantle pluming at the antipodal point.[1] This volcanism, if energetic enough, could compound the effects of the impact by creating a volcanic winter, irrespective of the other impact effects. A collision between the Earth and an approximately 10-kilometre-wide object 66 million years ago is believed to have produced the Chicxulub Crater and the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, widely held responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
While the chances of a major collision are not great in the near term, there is a high probability that one will happen eventually unless defensive actions are taken. Recent astronomical events—such as the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts on Jupiter and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor along with the growing number of objects on the Sentry Risk Table—have drawn renewed attention to such threats.


Contents  [hide]
1 Deflection efforts 1.1 History of government mandates
1.2 Ongoing projects 1.2.1 Sentinel Mission
1.3 Prospective projects
1.4 Detection from space
1.5 Results
2 Impact probability calculation pattern
3 Collision avoidance strategies 3.1 Nuclear explosive device
3.2 Kinetic impact
3.3 Asteroid gravity tractor
3.4 Ion beam shepherd
3.5 Use of focused solar energy
3.6 Mass driver
3.7 Conventional rocket engine
3.8 Other proposals
4 Deflection technology concerns
5 Planetary defense timeline
6 See also
7 External links
8 Further reading
9 Fictional representations 9.1 Film
9.2 Literature
9.3 Television
9.4 Games
10 References

Deflection efforts[edit]
“ REP. STEWART: ... are we technologically capable of launching something that could intercept [an asteroid]? ... DR. A'HEARN: No. If we had spacecraft plans on the books already, that would take a year ... I mean a typical small mission ... takes four years from approval to start to launch ... ”
—Rep. Chris Stewart (R,UT) and Dr. Michael F. A'Hearn, 10 April 2013, United States Congress[2]

Most deflection efforts for a large object require from a year to decades of warning, allowing time to prepare and carry out a collision avoidance project, as no known planetary defense hardware has already been developed. It has been estimated that a velocity change of just 3.5/t × 10−2 ms−1 (where t is the number of years until potential impact) is needed to successfully deflect a body on a direct collision trajectory. In addition, under certain circumstances, much smaller velocity changes are needed.[3] For example when it was believed there was a high chance of 99942 Apophis swinging by Earth in 2029 with a 10−4 probability of passing through a 'keyhole' and returning on an impact trajectory in 2035 or 2036. It was determined that a deflection from this potential return trajectory several years before the swing by could be achieved with a velocity change on the order of 10−6 ms−1.[4]
An impact by a 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) asteroid on the Earth has historically caused an extinction-level event due to catastrophic damage to the biosphere. There is also the threat from comets coming into the inner Solar System. The impact speed of a long-period comet would likely be several times greater than that of a near-Earth asteroid, making its impact much more destructive; in addition, the warning time is unlikely to be more than a few months.[5] Impacts from objects as small as 50 metres (160 ft) in diameter, which are far more common, are historically extremely destructive regionally (see barringer crater).
Finding out the material composition of the object is also helpful before deciding which strategy is appropriate. Missions like the 2005 Deep Impact probe have provided valuable information on what to expect.
History of government mandates[edit]
In a 1992 report to NASA,[6] a coordinated Spaceguard Survey was recommended to discover, verify and provide follow-up observations for Earth-crossing asteroids. This survey was expected to discover 90% of these objects larger than one kilometer within 25 years. Three years later, another NASA report[7] recommended search surveys that would discover 60-70% of short-period, near-Earth objects larger than one kilometer within ten years and obtain 90% completeness within five more years.
In 1998, NASA formally embraced the goal of finding and cataloging, by 2008, 90% of all near-Earth objects (NEOs) with diameters of 1 km or larger that could represent a collision risk to Earth. The 1 km diameter metric was chosen after considerable study indicated that an impact of an object smaller than 1 km could cause significant local or regional damage but is unlikely to cause a worldwide catastrophe.[6] The impact of an object much larger than 1 km diameter could well result in worldwide damage up to, and potentially including, extinction of the human species. The NASA commitment has resulted in the funding of a number of NEO search efforts that are making considerable progress toward the 90% goal by 2008.[dated info] The 2009 discovery of an NEO approximately 2 to 3 kilometers in diameter demonstrated there were still large objects to be detected.
U.S. Representative George E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA) was quoted as voicing his support for planetary defense projects in Air & Space Power Chronicles, saying "If some day in the future we discover well in advance that an asteroid that is big enough to cause a mass extinction is going to hit the Earth, and then we alter the course of that asteroid so that it does not hit us, it will be one of the most important accomplishments in all of human history."
Because of Congressman Brown's long-standing commitment to planetary defense, a U.S. House of Representatives' bill, H.R. 1022, was named in his honor: The George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act. This bill "to provide for a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize certain near-Earth asteroids and comets" was introduced in March 2005 by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).[8] It was eventually rolled into S.1281, the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, passed by Congress on December 22, 2005, subsequently signed by the President, and stating in part:

The U.S. Congress has declared that the general welfare and security of the United States require that the unique competence of NASA be directed to detecting, tracking, cataloguing, and characterizing near-Earth asteroids and comets in order to provide warning and mitigation of the potential hazard of such near-Earth objects to the Earth. The NASA Administrator shall plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize the physical characteristics of near- Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in diameter in order to assess the threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth. It shall be the goal of the Survey program to achieve 90% completion of its near-Earth object catalogue (based on statistically predicted populations of near-Earth objects) within 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act. The NASA Administrator shall transmit to Congress not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act an initial report that provides the following: (A) An analysis of possible alternatives that NASA may employ to carry out the Survey program, including ground-based and space-based alternatives with technical descriptions. (B) A recommended option and proposed budget to carry out the Survey program pursuant to the recommended option. (C) Analysis of possible alternatives that NASA could employ to divert an object on a likely collision course with Earth.
The result of this directive was a report presented to Congress in early March 2007. This was an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) study led by NASA's Program Analysis and Evaluation (PA&E) office with support from outside consultants, the Aerospace Corporation, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), and SAIC (amongst others).
Ongoing projects[edit]



 Number of NEOs detected by various projects.
The Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts has been cataloging the orbits of asteroids and comets since 1947. It has recently been joined by surveys which specialize in locating the NEOs, many (as of early 2007) funded by NASA's Near Earth Object (NEO) program office as part of their Spaceguard program. One of the best-known is LINEAR that began in 1996. By 2004 LINEAR was discovering tens of thousands of objects each year and accounting for 65% of all new asteroid detections.[9] LINEAR uses two one-meter telescopes and one half-meter telescope based in New Mexico.[10]
Spacewatch, which uses a 90 centimeter telescope sited at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, updated with automatic pointing, imaging, and analysis equipment to search the skies for intruders, was set up in 1980 by Tom Gehrels and Dr. Robert S. McMillan of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona in Tucson, and is now being operated by Dr. McMillan. The Spacewatch project has acquired a 1.8 meter telescope, also at Kitt Peak, to hunt for NEOs, and has provided the old 90 centimeter telescope with an improved electronic imaging system with much greater resolution, improving its search capability.[11]
Other near-Earth object tracking programs include Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT), Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS), Catalina Sky Survey, Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey (CINEOS), Japanese Spaceguard Association, and Asiago-DLR Asteroid Survey.[12] Pan-STARRS completed telescope construction in 2010, and it is now actively observing.
Another project, supported by the European Union, is NEOShield, which analyses realistic options for preventing the collision of a NEO with Earth. Their aim is to provide test mission designs for feasible NEO mitigation concepts.
"Spaceguard" is the name for these loosely affiliated programs, some of which receive NASA funding to meet a U.S. Congressional requirement to detect 90% of near-Earth asteroids over 1 km diameter by 2008.[13] A 2003 NASA study of a follow-on program suggests spending US$250–450 million to detect 90% of all near-Earth asteroids 140 meters and larger by 2028.[14]
NEODyS is an online database of known NEOs.
Sentinel Mission[edit]
Main articles: B612 Foundation and Sentinel Space Telescope
The B612 Foundation is a private nonprofit foundation with headquarters in the United States, dedicated to protecting the Earth from asteroid strikes. It is led mainly by scientists, former astronauts and engineers from the Institute for Advanced Study, Southwest Research Institute, Stanford University, NASA and the space industry.
As a non-governmental organization it has conducted two lines of related research to help detect NEOs that could one day strike the Earth, and find the technological means to divert their path to avoid such collisions. The foundation's current goal is to design and build a privately financed asteroid-finding space telescope, Sentinel, to be launched in 2017–2018. The Sentinel's infrared telescope, once parked in an orbit similar to that of Venus, will help identify threatening NEOs by cataloging 90% of those with diameters larger than 140 metres (460 ft), as well as surveying smaller solar system objects.[15][16][17]
Data gathered by Sentinel will help identify asteroids and other NEOs that pose a risk of collision with Earth, by being forwarded to scientific data-sharing networks, including NASA and academic institutions such as the Minor Planet Center.[17][16][18] The foundation also proposes asteroid deflection of potentially dangerous NEOs by the use of gravity tractors to divert their trajectories away from Earth,[19][20] a concept co-invented by the organization's CEO, physicist and former NASA astronaut, Dr. Ed Lu.[21]
Prospective projects[edit]
Orbit@home intends to provide distributed computing resources to optimize search strategy. On February 16, 2013, the project was halted due to lack of grant funding.[22] However, on July 23, 2013, the orbit@home project was selected for funding by NASA's Near Earth Object Observation program and is to resume operations sometime in early 2014. [23]
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, currently under construction, is expected to perform a comprehensive, high-resolution survey starting in the late 2010s.[dated info]
The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, currently in development, is expected to conduct frequent scans of the sky with a view to later-stage detection.
Detection from space[edit]
On November 8, 2007, the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held a hearing to examine the status of NASA's Near-Earth Object survey program. The prospect of using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer was proposed by NASA officials.[24]
WISE surveyed the sky in the infrared band at a very high sensitivity. Asteroids that absorb solar radiation can be observed through the infrared band. It was used to detect NEOs, in addition to performing its science goals. It is projected that WISE could detect 400 NEOs (roughly two percent of the estimated NEO population of interest) within the one-year mission.
NEOSSat, the Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite, is a microsatellite launched in February 2013 by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that will hunt for NEOs in space.[25][26]
Results[edit]
Research published in the March 26, 2009 issue of the journal Nature, describes how scientists were able to identify an asteroid in space before it entered Earth’s atmosphere, enabling computers to determine its area of origin in the Solar System as well as predict the arrival time and location on Earth of its shattered surviving parts. The four-meter-diameter asteroid, called 2008 TC3, was initially sighted by the automated Catalina Sky Survey telescope, on October 6, 2008. Computations correctly predicted impact would occur 19 hours after discovery in the Nubian Desert of northern Sudan.[27]
A number of potential threats have been identified, such as 99942 Apophis (previously known by its provisional designation 2004 MN4), which had been given an impact probability of about 3% for the year 2029. This probability has been revised to zero on the basis of new observations.[28]
Impact probability calculation pattern[edit]



 Why asteroid impact probability goes up, then down.
The ellipses in the diagram at right show the likely asteroid position at closest Earth approach. At first, with only a few asteroid observations, the error ellipse is very large and includes the Earth. Further observations shrink the error ellipse, but it still includes the Earth. This raises the impact probability, since the Earth now covers a larger fraction of the error region. Finally, yet more observations (often radar observations, or discovery of a previous sighting of the same asteroid on archival images) shrink the ellipse until the Earth is outside the error region, and the impact probability returns to near zero.[29]
Collision avoidance strategies[edit]
Various collision avoidance techniques have different trade-offs with respect to metrics such as overall performance, cost, operations, and technology readiness. There are various methods for changing the course of an asteroid/comet.[30] These can be differentiated by various types of attributes such as the type of mitigation (deflection or fragmentation), energy source (kinetic, electromagnetic, gravitational, solar/thermal, or nuclear), and approach strategy (interception, rendezvous, or remote station). Strategies fall into two basic sets: destruction and delay.[30]
Destruction concentrates on rendering the impactor harmless by fragmenting it and scattering the fragments so that they miss the Earth or burn up in the atmosphere.
Delay exploits the fact that both the Earth and the impactor are in orbit. An impact occurs when both reach the same point in space at the same time, or more correctly when some point on Earth's surface intersects the impactor's orbit when the impactor arrives. Since the Earth is approximately 12,750 km in diameter and moves at approx. 30 km per second in its orbit, it travels a distance of one planetary diameter in about 425 seconds, or slightly over seven minutes. Delaying, or advancing the impactor's arrival by times of this magnitude can, depending on the exact geometry of the impact, cause it to miss the Earth.[31]
Collision avoidance strategies can also be seen as either direct, or indirect and in how rapidly they transfer energy to the object. The direct methods, such as nuclear explosives, or kinetic impactors, rapidly intercept the bolide's path. Direct methods are preferred because they are generally less costly in time and money. Their effects may be immediate, thus saving precious time. These methods would work for short-notice, and long-notice threats, and are most effective against solid objects that can be directly pushed, but in the case of kinetic impactors, they are not very effective against large loosely aggregated rubble piles. The indirect methods, such as gravity tractors, attaching rockets or mass drivers, are much slower and require traveling to the object, time to change course up to 180 degrees to fly alongside it, and then take much more time to change the asteroid's path just enough so it will miss Earth.
Many NEOs are "flying rubble piles" only loosely held together by gravity, and a kinetic impactor deflection attempt might just break up the object without sufficiently adjusting its course. If an asteroid breaks into fragments, any fragment larger than 35 m across would not burn up in the atmosphere and itself could impact Earth. Tracking the thousands of buckshot like fragments that could result from such an explosion would be a very daunting task, although that would be preferable than doing nothing and allowing the originally larger rubble body, (which is analogous to a shot and wax slug) to impact the Earth.
Nuclear explosive device[edit]
See also: Nuclear pulse propulsion, Project Excalibur, B83 nuclear bomb, Robust nuclear earth penetrator and Operation Fishbowl
Initiating a nuclear explosive device above, on, or slightly beneath, the surface of a threatening celestial body, is a potential deflection option, with the optimal detonation height dependent upon the composition and size of the object. In the case of an inbound threat from a "rubble pile" the stand off, or detonation height above the surface configuration has been put forth as a means to prevent the potential fracturing of the rubble pile,[32] the detonations energetic release of neutrons and soft X-rays, which do not appreciably penetrate matter,[33] are converted into thermal heat upon encountering the objects surface matter, ablatively vaporizing all line of sight exposed surface areas of the object to a shallow depth,[34] turning the surface material it heats up into ejecta, and analogous to the ejecta from a chemical rocket engine exhaust, changing the velocity, or "nudging", the object off course by the reaction, following Newton's third law, with ejecta going one way and the object being propelled in the other.[35]
It does not require the entire NEO to be vaporized to mitigate an impact threat. The resulting objects small reduction in mass that followed the nuclear devices energetic thermal blast and the created rocket exhaust effect, an effect created by the high velocity of the objects now vaporized mass ejecta, could produce sufficiently positive results.[35][36]
If the object is very large but is still a loosely held together rubble pile, a solution is to detonate a series of nuclear explosive devices alongside the asteroid, far enough away as not to fracture the potentially loosely held together object. Providing this stand-off strategy was done far enough in advance, the force from any number of nuclear blasts would be enough to alter the object's trajectory to avoid an impact. By the 2020s NASA has concluded that 1 mission utilizing nuclear stand off, can deflect NEOs of 100–500-metre (330–1,640 ft) diameters two years before the estimated earth impact, and larger NEOs with a five year warning.[37]
A NASA analysis of deflection alternatives, conducted in 2007, stated:[38]

Nuclear standoff explosions are assessed to be 10-100 times more effective than the non-nuclear alternatives analyzed in this study. Other techniques involving the surface or subsurface use of nuclear explosives may be more efficient, but they run an increased risk of fracturing the target NEO. They also carry higher development and operations risks.
In 2011, Bong Wie, director of the Asteroid Deflection Research Center at Iowa State University, studied strategies to respond to a threatening asteroid on short notice of a year or so, and determined that to provide the required energy, a nuclear explosion is likely the only thing that would work against a very large asteroid in this short time frame. Other systems designed to divert an asteroid such as tugboats, gravity tractors, solar sails and mass drivers require 10 or 20 years of advance notice. Wie's conceptual Hypervelocity Asteroid Intercept Vehicle (HAIV) mission architecture to deal with large asteroids, combines a kinetic impactor that creates an initial crater for a follow up subsurface nuclear detonation within that initial crater, which would create a high degree of efficiency in the conversion of the nuclear energy that is released in the detonation into propulsion energy to the asteroid.[39] Another proposed approach along similar lines is the use of a surface detonating nuclear device, in place of the prior mentioned kinetic impactor, in order to create the initial crater, with the resulting crater that forms then again being used as a rocket nozzle to channel succeeding nuclear detonations.[40]
At the 2014 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) conference, Wie and his colleagues stated that, "We have the solution, using our baseline concept, to be able to mitigate the asteroid-impact threat, with any range of warning." For example, according to their computer models, with a warning time of 30 days a 1,000-foot-wide (300 m) asteroid would be neutralized by using a single HAIV, with less than 0.1 percent of the destroyed object's mass potentially striking Earth, which by comparison would be more than acceptable.[41]
The 1964 book Islands in Space calculates that the nuclear megatonnage necessary for several deflection scenarios exists.[42] In 1967, graduate students under Professor Paul Sandorff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a system using rockets and nuclear explosions to prevent a hypothetical impact on Earth by the 1.4 kilometer wide asteroid 1566 Icarus, an object which routinely makes lunar distance wide, or greater, approaches to Earth every couple of years.[43] This design study was later published as Project Icarus[44][45][46] which served as the inspiration for the 1979 film Meteor.[46][47][48]
In a 1995 meeting at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Edward Teller proposed to a collective of U.S. and Russian ex-Cold War weapons designers, the use of nuclear fusion warheads in diverting the paths of extinction event class asteroids.[49]
The use of nuclear explosive devices is an international issue and will need to be addressed by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty technically bans nuclear weapons in space. However it is unlikely that a nuclear explosive device, fuzed to be detonated only upon interception with a threatening celestial object,[50] with the sole intent of preventing that celestial body from impacting earth would be regarded as an un-peaceful use of space, or that the explosive device sent to mitigate an Earth impact, explicitly designed to prevent harm to come to life would fall under the classification of a "weapon".
Kinetic impact[edit]
See also: Ramming, Deep Impact (spacecraft) and Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile



 The Deep Impact collision encounter with comet Tempel 1. The impact flash and resulting ejecta is clearly visible. The impactor delivered the equivalent of 4.7 tons of TNT upon impact. Changing the orbit of the comet by about 10 cm (3.9 in)."[51][better source needed]
The impact of a massive object, such as a spacecraft or even another near-Earth object, is another possible solution to a pending NEO impact. An object with a high mass close to the Earth could be sent out into a collision course with the asteroid, knocking it off course.
When the asteroid is still far from the Earth, a means of deflecting the asteroid is to directly alter its momentum by colliding a spacecraft with the asteroid.
A NASA analysis of deflection alternatives, conducted in 2007, stated:[38]

Non-nuclear kinetic impactors are the most mature approach and could be used in some deflection/mitigation scenarios, especially for NEOs that consist of a single small, solid body.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is studying the preliminary design of two space missions for ~2020, named AIDA (spacecraft) & the earlier Don Quijote, and if flown, they would be the first intentional asteroid deflection mission ever designed. ESA's Advanced Concepts Team has also demonstrated theoretically that a deflection of 99942 Apophis could be achieved by sending a simple spacecraft[when?] weighing less than one ton to impact against the asteroid. During a trade-off study one of the leading researchers[who?] argued that a strategy called 'kinetic impactor deflection' was more efficient than others.[dubious – discuss]
Asteroid gravity tractor[edit]
Main article: Gravity tractor
One more alternative to explosive deflection is to move the asteroid slowly over a time. Tiny constant thrust accumulates to deviate an object sufficiently from its predicted course. Edward T. Lu and Stanley G. Love have proposed using a large heavy unmanned spacecraft hovering over an asteroid to gravitationally pull the latter into a non-threatening orbit. The spacecraft and the asteroid mutually attract one another. If the spacecraft counters the force towards the asteroid by, e.g., an ion thruster, the net effect is that the asteroid is accelerated towards the spacecraft and thus slightly deflected from its orbit. While slow, this method has the advantage of working irrespective of the asteroid composition or spin rate – rubble pile asteroids would be difficult[dubious – discuss] or impossible[dubious – discuss] to deflect by means of nuclear detonations while a pushing device would be hard or inefficient to mount on a fast rotating asteroid. A gravity tractor would likely have to spend several years beside the asteroid to be effective.
A NASA analysis of deflection alternatives, conducted in 2007, stated:[38]

"Slow push" mitigation techniques are the most expensive, have the lowest level of technical readiness, and their ability to both travel to and divert a threatening NEO would be limited unless mission durations of many years to decades are possible.
Ion beam shepherd[edit]
Main article: Ion Beam Shepherd
Another "contactless" asteroid deflection technique has been recently proposed by C.Bombardelli and J.Peláez from the Technical University of Madrid. The method involves the use of a low divergence ion thruster pointed at the asteroid from a nearby hovering spacecraft. The momentum transmitted by the ions reaching the asteroid surface produces a slow but continuous force that can deflect the asteroid in a similar way as done by the gravity tractor but with a lighter spacecraft.
Use of focused solar energy[edit]



 NASA study of a solar sail. The sail would be 0.5 km wide.
H. Jay Melosh proposed to deflect an asteroid or comet by focusing solar energy onto its surface to create thrust from the resulting vaporization of material, or to amplify the Yarkovsky effect. Over a span of months or years enough solar radiation can be directed onto the object to deflect it.
This method would first require the construction of a space station with a system of gigantic lens and magnifying glasses near the Earth. Then the station would be transported toward the Sun.
Mass driver[edit]
A mass driver is an (automated) system on the asteroid to eject material into space thus giving the object a slow steady push and decreasing its mass. A mass driver is designed to work as a very low specific impulse system, which in general uses a lot of propellant, but very little power.
The idea is that when using local material as propellant, the amount of propellant is not as important as the amount of power, which is likely to be limited.
Another possibility is to use a mass driver on the moon aimed at the NEO to take advantage of the moon's orbital velocity and inexhaustible supply of "rock bullets".
Conventional rocket engine[edit]
Attaching any spacecraft propulsion device would have a similar effect of giving a steady push, possibly forcing the asteroid onto a trajectory that takes it away from Earth. An in-space rocket engine that is capable of imparting an impulse of 106 N·s (E.g. adding 1 km/s to a 1000 kg vehicle), will have a relatively small effect on a relatively small asteroid that has a mass of roughly a million times more. Chapman, Durda, and Gold's white paper[52] calculates deflections using existing chemical rockets delivered to the asteroid.
Other proposals[edit]



 One method of changing a large threatening celestial body's orbit would be, by capturing relatively smaller celestial objects and using those, and not the usually proposed small bits of spacecraft, as the means of creating a powerful kinetic impact, or alternatively, a stronger faster acting gravitational tractor.


 The 1984 Strategic Defense Initiative concept of a generic space based Nuclear reactor pumped laser or a hydrogen fluoride laser satellite,[53] firing on a target, causing a momentum change in the target object by laser ablation.Non-conventional rocket engines, such as VASIMR
Wrapping the asteroid in a sheet of reflective plastic such as aluminized PET film as a solar sail
"Painting" or dusting the object with titanium dioxide (white) or soot (black) to alter its trajectory via the Yarkovsky effect.
Planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker in 1996 proposed[54] deflecting a potential impactor by releasing a cloud of steam in the path of the object, hopefully gently slowing it. Nick Szabo in 1990 sketched[55] a similar idea, "cometary aerobraking", the targeting of a comet or ice construct at an asteroid, then vaporizing the ice with nuclear explosives to form a temporary atmosphere in the path of the asteroid.
Attaching a tether and ballast mass to the asteroid to alter its trajectory by changing its center of mass.[56]
Laser ablation - The DE-STAR project,[57] proposed by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a concept modular solar powered 1 µm, near infrared wavelength, laser array. The design calls for the array to eventually be approximately 1 km squared in size, with the modular design meaning that it could be launched in increments and assembled in space. In its early stages as a small array it could deal with smaller targets, assist solar sail probes and would also be useful in cleaning up space debris.
Magnetic Flux Compression to magnetically brake and or capture objects that contain a high percentage of meteoric iron by deploying a wide coil of wire in its orbital path and when it passes through, Inductance creates an electromagnet solenoid to be generated.[58][59]
Deflection technology concerns[edit]
Carl Sagan, in his book Pale Blue Dot, expressed concerns about deflection technology: that any method capable of deflecting impactors away from Earth could also be abused to divert non-threatening bodies toward the planet. Considering the history of genocidal political leaders and the possibility of the bureaucratic obscuring of any such project's true goals to most of its scientific participants, he judged the Earth at greater risk from a man-made impact than a natural one. Sagan instead suggested that deflection technology should only be developed in an actual emergency situation.
All slow energy delivery deflection technologies have inherent fine control, steering capability, making it possible to add just the right amount of energy to steer an asteroid originally destined for a mere close approach towards a specific Earth target.
According to Rusty Schweickart, the gravitational tractor method is controversial because during the process of changing an asteroid's trajectory the point on the Earth where it could most likely hit would be slowly shifted across different countries. It means that the threat for the entire planet would be minimized at the cost of some specific states' security. In Schweickart's opinion, choosing the way the asteroid should be "dragged" would be a tough diplomatic decision.[60]
Analysis of the uncertainty involved in nuclear deflection shows that the ability to protect the planet does not imply the ability to target the planet. A nuclear explosion which changed an asteroid's velocity by 10 meters/second (plus or minus 20%) would be adequate to push it out of an Earth-impacting orbit. However, if the uncertainty of the velocity change was more than a few percent, there would be no chance of directing the asteroid to a particular target.
Planetary defense timeline[edit]
In their 1964 book, Islands in Space, Dandridge M. Cole and Donald W. Cox noted the dangers of planetoid impacts, both those occurring naturally and those that might be brought about with hostile intent. They argued for cataloging the minor planets and developing the technologies to land on, deflect, or even capture planetoids.[61]
In the 1980s NASA studied evidence of past strikes on planet Earth, and the risk of this happening at our current level of civilization. This led to a program that maps which objects in the Solar System both cross Earth's orbit and are large enough to cause serious damage if they ever hit.
In the 1990s, US Congress held hearings to consider the risks and what needed to be done about them. This led to a US$3 million annual budget for programs like Spaceguard and the near-Earth object program, as managed by NASA and USAF.
In 2005 the world's astronauts published an open letter through the Association of Space Explorers calling for a united push to develop strategies to protect Earth from the risk of a cosmic collision.[62]
It is currently (as of late 2007) believed that there are approximately 20,000 objects capable of crossing Earth's orbit and large enough (140 meters or larger) to warrant concern.[63] On the average, one of these will collide with Earth every 5,000 years, unless preventative measures are undertaken.[64] It is now anticipated that by year 2008, 90% of such objects that are 1 km or more in diameter will have been identified and will be monitored. The further task of identifying and monitoring all such objects of 140m or greater is expected to be complete around 2020.[64]
The Catalina Sky Survey[65] (CSS) is one of NASA´s four funded surveys to carry out a 1998 U.S. Congress mandate to find and catalog by the end of 2008, at least 90 percent of all near-Earth objects (NEOs) larger than 1 kilometer across. CSS discovered 310 NEOs in 2005, 400 in 2006 and the record will be broken with 450 NEOs found in 2007. In doing this survey they discovered on November 20, 2007, an asteroid, designated 2007 WD5, which initially was estimated to have a chance of hitting Mars on January 30, 2008, but further observations during the following weeks allowed NASA to rule out an impact.[66] NASA estimated a near miss by 26,000 kilometres (16,000 mi).[67]
In January 2012, after a near pass-by of object 2012 BX34, a paper entitled “A Global Approach to Near-Earth Object Impact Threat Mitigation,” is released by researchers from Russia, Germany, the United States, France, Britain and Spain which discusses the “NEOShield” project.[68][69]
See also[edit]
2013 Chelyabinsk meteor
1908 Tunguska event
1994 Cando event
2002 Eastern Mediterranean event
2002 Vitim event
Asteroid mining
B612 Foundation
Chicxulub crater
Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9
Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
Don Quijote (spacecraft)
Gravity tractor
Impact events
Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
List of Earth-crossing minor planets
List of impact craters on Earth
Near-Earth object
NEOShield
Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale
Potentially hazardous object
Risks to civilization, humans, and planet Earth
Torino Scale
External links[edit]
"Deflecting Asteroids," by Gregory L. Matloff, IEEE Spectrum, April 2012
Asteroid Occultation Updates
BBC Horizon – Averting Armageddon (summary)
British Government FAQ on Near Earth Orbit risks
LINEAR a USAF NASA joint effort operated by M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory.
Near Earth Objects Directory also here.
NASA Near-Earth Object Program
Space Watch Observatory at University of Arizona
Nasa's 2007 Report to Congress on NEO Survey Program Including Tracking and Diverting Methods for High Risk Asteroids
Consolidated Risk Tables: Asteroid/Comet Connection
Armagh University: Near Earth Object Impact Hazard
Threats from Space: A Review of U.S. Government Efforts to Track and Mitigate Asteroids and Meteors (Part I and Part II): Hearing before the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, Tuesday, March 19, 2013 and Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Further reading[edit]
General
Air Force 2025. Planetary Defense: Social, Economic, and Political Implications, United States Air Force, Air Force 2025 Final Report webpage, December 11, 1996.
Belton, M.J.S. Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids, Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0521827647, ISBN 978-0521827645
Bottke, William F. Asteroids III (Space Science Series), University of Arizona space science series, University of Arizona Press, 2002, ISBN 0816522812, ISBN 978-0816522811
Burrows, William E. The Asteroid Threat: Defending Our Planet from Deadly Near-Earth Objects. <http://www.amazon.com/Asteroid-Threat-Defending-Near-Earth-Objects-ebook/dp/B00HBQIFTY/ref=la_B001ITWXL6_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402345055&sr=1-4>.
Lewis, John S. Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards on a Populated Earth: Computer Modeling (Volume 1 of Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards on a Populated Earth: Computer Modeling), Academic Press, 2000, ISBN 0124467601, ISBN 978-0124467606
Verschuur, Gerrit L. Impact!: The Threat of Comets and Asteroids, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195353277, 1997, ISBN 978-0195353273
Effects of asteroid and meteorite strikes
Daugherty, Laura and Emily Van Yuga. What Damage Have Impacts Done to Humans in Recorded History? (Geol 117: Meteorite Impacts in Space and Time), Oberlin College Geology Department, Oberlin College, May 11, 2001.
Halliday, I., A.T. Blackwell, and A.A. Griffin. "Meteorite Impacts on Humans and Buildings", Nature, pp. 318–317. [bib. of Yau et al.]
Lapaz, L. "Effects of Meteorites on the Earth", Advances in Geophysics, Vol. 4, pp. 217–350. [bib. of Yau et al.]
Lewis, J.S. Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1996; Basic Books, 1997, ISBN 0201154943, ISBN 978-0201154948. [OBIS]
Nield, Ted. Don't wrong the meteorite: Ted Nield thinks it's time to reassess our attitude to cosmic impacts. Meteorites are our friends, Geoscientist Online, The Geological Society, October 2008.
Norton, O.R. "Rocks from Space". Missoula Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1998. [course textbook].
Reimold, W. U. and R. L. Gibson, Anton Pelser, Mauritz Naudé, Kevin Balkwill. Meteorite impact!: the danger from space and South Africa's mega-impact the Vredefort structure, Chris van Rensburg, 2005, ISBN 1919908625, ISBN 9781919908625.
"Special Report: Death and Property Damage Due to Meteor Destruction", UFO Research: Cincinnati!, November, 1998.
Swindel, G.W. Jr., and W.B. Jones. Meteoritics, Vol. 1, pp. 125–132. [bib. of Lapaz 1958].
Webb, S.K. A Novel Measure of Meteorite Flux", [meteorite-list] How Many Meteorites Fall?, November 30, 2000.
Worthey, G. Meteor Near Misses and Strikes, St. Ambrose University Astronomy, 11 October 1999.
Yau, K., Weissman, P., & Yeomans, D. Meteorite Falls In China And Some Related Human Casualty Events, Meteoritics, 1994, Vol. 29, No. 6, pp. 864–871, ISSN: 0026-1114, bibliographic code: 1994Metic..29..864Y.
Fictional representations[edit]
Asteroid or comet impacts are a common subgenre of disaster fiction, and such stories typically feature some attempt—successful or unsuccessful—to prevent the catastrophe. Most involve trying to destroy or explosively redirect an object, perhaps understandably from the direction of dramatic interest. (See also Asteroids in fiction –Collisions with Earth).
Film[edit]
When Worlds Collide (1951): A science fiction film based on the 1933 novel; shot in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and the winner of the 1952 Academy Awards for special effects.
Crash of the Moons (1954): A 75-minute US science fiction film, consisting of three consecutive episodes of the TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
Meteor (1979): A series of orbital platforms armed with nuclear missiles are used to deflect an asteroid (based on the MIT "Project Icarus" report.[44])
Gorath (1980): Astronauts, originally sent to collect data on Saturn, are diverted to investigate the mysterious star Gorath, reported as being 6,000 times the size of the Earth, which is predicted to come dangerously close to Earth. The astronauts radio back data about the star, and the world is stunned by the discovery. The United Nations band together to discover a solution to the problem, and decide that their only solutions are to either destroy the star or move the planet out of its way.
Starship Troopers (1997): Insect-like aliens launch an asteroid at Earth, obliterating Buenos Aires. Shortly afterward, orbital defenses are constructed to destroy any future asteroids the aliens may send.
Armageddon (1998): A pair of newly modified space shuttles are used to drill a hole in an asteroid and plant a nuclear bomb, allowing Bruce Willis to save the planet.
Deep Impact (1998): A manned spacecraft plants a number of nuclear bombs on a comet and is mostly successful.
Judgment Day (1999): Cultists seize the only man capable of devising a way to stop a giant meteor from hitting the Earth. A female agent teams up with a prisoner (Ice-T), who together have three days to rescue the scientist and save the planet from extinction.
Post Impact (2004) A disaster film centered on the story of a man forced to leave his family behind during a massive impact event.
Earthstorm (2006): Asteroid impact on the lunar surface and a resulting debris storm that strikes the Earth, inflicting severe damage. Scientists, along with a bombing expert, bind the Moon's core, thereby avoiding a global catastrophe.
Seeking a friend for the end of the world (2012): Comedy-drama set during the last weeks before an asteroid hits Earth.
Iron Sky (2012): Nazi army from the Moon tows asteroids and pieces of Moon rock to drop them on Earth cities.
Literature[edit]
See also: Asteroids in fiction –Collisions with planets
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966): A lunar colony revolts against authoritarian Earth rule, using a catapult designed for sending grain shipments to earth to throw moon rocks at the earth instead. Written by Robert A. Heinlein.
The Mote in God's Eye (1974): Features the examination of an alien war that culminates in the use of asteroids for planetary bombardment and the near extinction of the warring species. Written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Lucifer's Hammer (1977): A comet, which was initially thought unlikely to strike, hits the Earth, resulting in the end of civilization and a decline into tribal warfare over food and resources. Written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Shiva Descending (1980): A swarm of meteors is falling on Earth, but a giant comet, Shiva, is still coming. Written by Gregory Benford and William Rotsler.
Footfall (1985): An alien race uses controlled meteorite strikes as well as a large asteroid superweapon against Earth. Written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
The Hammer of God (1993): A spacecraft is sent to divert a massive asteroid by using thrusters. Written by Arthur C. Clarke.
Moonfall (1998): A comet is in collision course with the Moon. After the collision, the debris start falling on Earth. Written by Jack McDevitt.
Nemesis (1998): The US government gathers a small team, including a British astronomer, with instructions to find and deflect an asteroid already targeted at North America by the Russians. Written by British astronomer Bill Napier.
Terraforming Earth (2001): An asteroid impact wipes out most life on Earth. The only remaining humans are a small group of clones on an automated moon base, tasked with rebuilding civilization. Written by Jack Williamson.
Impact Point (2013): The death of blue whales on both sides of the Atlantic, seemingly as a result of olivine mineral poisoning, leads to the discovery of a deranged plan to divert an extinction-level event comet towards the Earth.
Television[edit]
Star Trek: In "The Paradise Syndrome" (1968), an amnesiac Kirk finds a centuries-old obelisk which has a deflector beam built in to deflect an asteroid coming to wipe out a primitive race.
Horizon: Hunt for the Doomsday Asteroid (1994), a BBC documentary, part of the Horizon science series, Season 30, Episode 7.
Sliders: in "Last Days" (1995), an asteroid approaches an alternate Earth, and human civilization prepares for the apocalypse unless a nuclear weapon can be invented to deflect the asteroid.
The Simpsons: In "Bart's Comet" (1995), Bart discovers a comet that is heading directly for Springfield. The town attempts to destroy it with a rocket, but it misses. The comet ends up being destroyed by an extra thick layer of pollution over the city.
NOVA: Doomsday Asteroid (1995), a PBS NOVA science documentary, Series 23, Episode 4.
Cowboy Bebop: The series shows an Earth with a shattered moon and several of its fragments remaining in Earth's orbit. The episode "Hard Luck Woman" (1998) focuses on Ed's father, who is constantly updating Earth's geographical map by tracking moon fragments that fall on Earth.
Asteroid (1998), a NBC TV movie, features two large asteroid fragments on collision courses with the Earth. The U.S. government attempts to break the larger of the two fragments apart with airborne lasers.
Futurama: The episode "A Big Piece of Garbage" (1999), features a large space object on a collision course with Earth which turns out to be a giant ball of garbage launched into space by New York around 2052. Residents of New New York first try blowing up the ball to destroy it but fail as the rocket is absorbed by the ball. They then deflect it using a newly created near-identical garbage ball.
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue: In "The Omega Project" (2000), a meteor is sent towards Earth by evil space aliens, but is blown up by Omegazords.
Defenders of the Planet (2001), a three-part British TV mini-series discussing the individuals and organizations working to defend the Earth against killer asteroids and other extraterrestrial threats; broadcast on The Learning Channel.[70]
Stargate SG-1: The episode "Fail Safe" (2002) features an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth.
Kirby: Right Back At Ya! (2002): Mabel, a fortune teller in Kirby: Right Back At Ya! predicts an asteroid headed straight for Pop Star, but it is not due for impact for another 10,000 years. But Nightmare Enterprises speeds it up, and thus it will collide in 48 hours. Luckily, a few brave citizens form a plan to deflect the asteroid by firing at it with cannons. When the cannon shots fail to hit their target, Kirby inhales them, shoots them back and sends the massive space object back into orbit.
Stratos 4 (2003): In this anime, a two-staged space and air defense network is established in order to prevent a large group of comets colliding with Earth.
Justice League (TV series) (2003): In the episode "Maid of Honor," Vandal Savage, king of Kasnia, pretends to be participating in the peaceful expansion of the International Space Station while secretly turning it into a mass driver. He then takes control of the station and threatens to launch asteroids at specific countries on Earth if the international community does not comply with his demands.
Star Trek: Enterprise: The episode "Terra Prime" (2005) features a domestic xenophobic terrorist organization taking control of the Large Veteron Array on Mars for the purpose of threatening to destroy Starfleet Command. To initiate an undetected sneak attack, members of the Enterprise use a shuttlepod to hide in the wake of an ice asteroid which was intentionally redirected by the Array years earlier to impact with Mars in order to help with terraforming. There is an implied threat that if the terrorists did not maneuver the asteroid correctly, it might accidentally hit near the Mars colony. The asteroid does hit in the correct location, with the crew on the shuttlepod surviving by breaking away at the last moment, successfully remaining undetected.[71]
Deadly Skies (2006): a science-fiction television film showing the effort of two astronomers and two military men to stop a giant asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
Impact Earth (2007) (a.k.a. Futureshock: Comet): A comet fragment strike in the Atlantic Ocean destroys Shannon Airport, Ireland with a tsunami. They discover it was from a long-period comet that was a Sun Grazer and then discover that it was only a small part and the rest was coming a year later. There is an argument between the main hero scientist as to the efficacy of a nuclear deflection strategy, but they discover in the nick of time that a nuclear bomb would make it worse, so they implement an evacuation strategy and allow it to hit, in Pittsburgh.
Danny Phantom: The series finale, "Phantom Planet" (2007) involved a giant asteroid of the fictional element ecto-ranium from the rings of Saturn almost collide with Earth. This was solved when ghosts had made the planet intangible, hence the title.
The Sarah Jane Adventures: In "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?" (2007), a meteor on a collision course with the Earth is ultimately deflected back into space by Sarah Jane's alien computer, Mr. Smith.
Meteor (2009): A large earth-grazing meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere for several minutes and is ultimately deflected back into space using a combined nuclear attack by the United States, Russia, and China.
Games[edit]
Outpost (1994) and Outpost 2 (1997): The player of these two colonization PC games from Sierra Entertainment is given the task of building and managing a space colony in the aftermath of humanity's certain extinction caused by an asteroid collision. In the introduction of the first game a nuclear weapon is used to attempt to divert the asteroid's -named Vulcan's Hammer- path, but instead breaks it into two large pieces that strike Earth's surface.
The Dig (1995): In this adventure PC game from LucasArts, three of five astronauts assigned to blow an asteroid off-course are transported to a distant world.
Homeworld (1999): At the outskirts of the Hiigaran system, the Taiidan attempted to destroy the Kushan Mothership in a last-ditch effort using a large asteroid (somewhere between 15 and 20 km across) with an engine on its back. The asteroid had enough mass and kinetic energy to completely vaporize anything it collided with and was capable of withstanding the combined firepower of the whole Kushan fleet for minutes.
Submarine TITANS (2000): A real time strategy game by Ellipse Studios in which the Earth is devastated in 2047 by the impact of the Clark Comet and the attached Silicon spacecraft. The impact of the Clark Comet also deposits significant amounts of the fictional element Corium 276, which factors heavily into both the gameplay and the plot of Submarine TITANS.
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (2001): In this combat flight simulator for the PlayStation 2 by Namco, a railgun battery is used in an attempt to destroy a massive asteroid with limited success.
Mass Effect (2007): The "Bring Down the Sky" expansion features an alien extremist group that attempts to hijack an asteroid station and set it on a collision course with a human colony.
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (2008): Almost 90% of mankind has been killed off following devastating meteor strikes which have destroyed much of civilization and caused a massive dust cloud to blot out the Sun. The player takes the role of a military leader and tries to protect the survivors in the ruins of civilization.
"Rage" (2011): Asteroid 99942 Apophis impacts the Earth and the technology used to ensue mankind's survival is to keep people in cryogenic sleep until the Earth was safe again.
References[edit]
Citations
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32.Jump up ^ http://orbitalvector.com/Solar%20System/Asteroids%20And%20Comets/Redirecting%20Asteroids/REDIRECTING%20ASTEROIDS.htm "Such [rubble pile] bodies would be needed to be pushed from all points on a facing side simultaneously to avoid potential splintering. One way to achieve this is to use a powerful nuclear explosion, not on its surface, but off to its side a few kilometers, so the radiation pressure and what there is of a shockwave will give it the gentle nudge needed to alter its trajectory."
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Bibliography
Luis Alvarez et al. 1980 paper in Science magazine on the great mass extinction 65 million years ago that led to the proliferation of mammal species such as the rise of the human race, thanks to asteroid-impact, a controversial theory in its day, now generally accepted.
Christopher D. Hall and I. Michael Ross, "Dynamics and Control Problems in the Deflection of Near-Earth Objects," Advances in the Astronautical Sciences: Astrodynamics 1997, Vol.97, Part I, 1997, pp. 613–631. The first known study by the US Air Force and US Navy on how to deflect NEOs.
Izzo, D., Bourdoux, A., Walker, R. and Ongaro, F.; "Optimal Trajectories for the Impulsive Deflection of NEOs"; Paper IAC-05-C1.5.06, 56th International Astronautical Congress, Fukuoka, Japan, (October 2005). Later published in Acta Astronautica, Vol. 59, No. 1-5, pp. 294–300, April 2006, available in http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/publications/pub-mad.htm – The first scientific paper proving that Apophis can be deflected by a small sized kinetic impactor.
Clark R. Chapman, Daniel D. Durda & Robert E. Gold (February 24, 2001) Impact Hazard, a Systems Approach, white paper on public policy issues associated with the impact hazard, at http://www.boulder.swri.edu/clark/neowp.html
Dandridge M. Cole and Donald W. Cox. 1964. Islands in Space: The Challenge of the Planetoids Philadelphia: Chilton. ASIN: B0007DZSR0. First major book on asteroids, covering threat of impact and feasibility of deflection or even capture. Cox and Chestek (following) is a later revision of this book.
Donald W. Cox, and James H. Chestek. 1996. Doomsday Asteroid: Can We Survive? New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-066-5. (Note that despite its sensationalist title, this is a good treatment of the subject and includes a nice discussion of the collateral space development possibilities.)
David Morrison Is the Sky Falling?, Skeptical Inquirer 1997.
David Morrison, Alan W Harris, Geoff Summer, Clark R. Chapman, & Andrea Carusi Dealing with Impact Hazard, 2002 technical summary http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/downloads/NEO_Chapter_1.pdf?ID=113
Russell L. Schweickart, Edward T. Lu, Piet Hut and Clark R. Chapman; "The Asteroid Tugboat"; Scientific American (November 2003).
Kunio M. Sayanagi "How to Deflect an Asteroid" Ars Technica (April 2008).
Edward T. Lu and Stanley G. Love A Gravitational Tractor for Towing Asteroids; http://arxiv.org/ftp/astro-ph/papers/0509/0509595.pdf





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Mark the Mountain Guide
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  (Redirected from Mark the Mountain Guide: Avalanche!)
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Mark the Mountain Guide from Boxer Books, 2008.


Mark the Mountain Guide and the Compass Adventure from Boxer Books, 2009.
Mark the Mountain Guide is a series of illustrated children's books which combine short tales with an introduction to mountaineering. The books are written by Mark Seaton and illustrated by Graham Philpot. The series is published by Boxer Books.[1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Author
3 Illustrator
4 References
5 External links

Background[edit]
Author Mark Seaton and David Bennett, a publisher of children's books, conceived the books while they climbed Mont Blanc together.[2][3] David Bennett was responsible for commissioning the Where's Waldo? books which have sold over 40 million copies worldwide.
The British mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington provides the introduction, and the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations offers their seal of approval to the technical section at the end of the books.
The main character is Mark, a mountain guide. Most of the characters are engaging animals, including Leo the Mountain Dog and three little Marmot Mountaineers. At the end of the story, an instructional section explains more about some of the phenomena encountered along the way. In the first book, Mark the Mountain Guide,[2] this includes child-friendly explanations of what causes an avalanche, how mountains are formed and why stars are so bright at altitude. A glossary defines mountain-related words from the story, including terms like avalanche, crampon, gorge, glacier and mountaineer.
This section also includes practical information to get children started on their mountaineering careers, such as how to build an igloo, what a mountaineer wears and carries in his pack, and how to tie a couple of useful knots. To facilitate this particular skill, the first book includes a toy carabiner and a length of accessory cord.
Later books continue this format. For example, the second book, Mark the Mountain Guide and the Compass Adventure,[3] includes a working compass & brief illustrated explanations of the history, science & technique behind magnetic needles used for navigation.
Author[edit]
The author, Mark Seaton, is a British mountain guide who lives with his wife and children in the Chamonix valley. He guides climbers and skiers in the French, Swiss and Italian Alps.
Seaton's accomplishments as a professional mountain guide include the first complete unassisted British guided ascent of the Eiger Nordwand[4] with his client Charles Sherwood in 2007. In 2008, Seaton & Sherwood teamed up again to complete a traverse of Mont Blanc via an ascent of Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, the most difficult 4000-m summit in the Alps.
In 1996, Mark led Don Planner, the first blind man to climb Mont Blanc.[5] Planner, incidentally, was also the first man to reach the summit after undergoing a heart by-pass operation.
Mark has also guided various regiments of the British army including the Special Forces.
Illustrator[edit]
Graham Philpot, a children's artist best known as the creator of Anthony Ant, illustrates the books.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Mark the Mountain Guide at Boxer Books
2.^ Jump up to: a b Mark the Mountain Guide
3.^ Jump up to: a b Mark the Mountain Guide and the Compass Adventure
4.Jump up ^ “Oh, are you still here?” A Bagman's View of the Eigerwand
5.Jump up ^ Blind Mont Blanc
External links[edit]
Official website
Mark Seaton, Mountain Guide
Graham Philpot, Illustrator
Sir Chris Bonington
The International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations
 


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British children's books
Child characters in literature
Characters in children's literature
Mountaineering books


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Avalanche
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This article is about the natural event. For other uses, see Avalanche (disambiguation).




Dry snowavalanche with a powder cloud



Dry snowavalanche with a powder cloud



The toe of an avalanche in Alaska's Kenai Fjords.



A powder snow avalanche in the Himalayasnear Mount Everest.
An avalanche(also called a snowslideor snowslip) is a rapid flow of snowdown a sloping surface. Avalanches are typically triggered in a starting zone from a mechanical failure in the snowpack(slab avalanche) when the forces on the snow exceed its strength but sometimes only with gradually widening (loose snow avalanche). After initiation, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they entrainmore snow. If the avalanche moves fast enough some of the snow may mix with the air forming a powder snow avalanche, which is a type of gravity current.
Slides of rocks or debris, behaving in a similar way to snow, are also referred to as avalanches (see rockslide[1]). The remainder of this article refers to snow avalanches.
The load on the snowpack may be only due to gravity, in which case failure may result either from weakening in the snowpack or increased load due to precipitation. Avalanches that occur in this way are known as spontaneous avalanches. Avalanches can also be triggered by other loads such as skiers, snowmobilers, animals or explosives. Seismic activity may also trigger failure in the snowpack and avalanches.
Although primarily composed of flowing snow and air, large avalanches have the capability to entrain ice, rocks, trees, and other material on the slope, and are distinct from mudslides, rock slides, and seraccollapses on an icefall. Avalanches are not rare or random events and are endemic to any mountain range that accumulates a standing snowpack. Avalanches are most common during winter or spring but glacier movements may cause ice and snow avalanches at any time of year. In mountainous terrain, avalanches are among the most serious objective natural hazardsto life and property, with their destructive capability resulting from their potential to carry enormous masses of snow at high speeds.
There is no universally accepted classification of avalanches—different classifications are useful for different purposes. Avalanches can be described by their size, their destructive potential, their initiation mechanism, their composition and their dynamics.


Contents [hide]
1Formation and type1.1Slab avalanches
1.2Powder snow avalanches
1.3Wet snow avalanches
2Terrain, snowpack, weather2.1Terrain
2.2Snowpack structure and characteristics
2.3Weather
3Dynamics3.1Modelling
4Human involvement4.1Prevention
4.2Mitigation
4.3Survival, rescue, and recovery
5Notable avalanches
6Classification6.1European avalanche risk table
6.2European avalanche size table
6.3North American Avalanche Danger Scale
6.4Canadian classification for avalanche size
6.5United States classification for avalanche size
6.6Rutschblock Test
7See also7.1Related flows
7.2Famous avalanche disasters
8References8.1Bibliography
8.2Notes
9External links

Formation and type[edit]


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this articleby adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(July 2009)




A crown fracture from a slab avalanche near the Neve Glacier in the North Cascadesmountains. Extensive fracture propagation is evident.



Loose snow avalanches (far left ) and slab avalanches (near center ) near Mount Shuksanin the North Cascadesmountains. Fracture propagation is relatively limited.



15cm deep, soft slab avalanche triggered by a snowboarder near Heliotrope Ridge, Mount Bakerin March 2010. Multiple crown fracture lines are visible in the top-middle of the image. Note the granular characteristic of the debris in the foreground that results from the slab breaking up during descent.
Most avalanches occur spontaneously during storms under increased load due to snowfall. The second largest cause of natural avalanches is metamorphic changes in the snowpack such as melting due to solar radiation. Other natural causes include rain, earthquakes, rockfall and icefall. Artificial triggers of avalanches include skiers, snowmobiles, and controlled explosive work.
Avalanche initiation can start at a point with only a small amount of snow moving initially; this is typical of wet snow avalanches or avalanches in dry unconsolidated snow. However, if the snow has sintered into a stiff slab overlying a weak layer then fractures can propagate very rapidly, so that a large volume of snow, that may be thousands of cubic meters, can start moving almost simultaneously.
A snowpack will fail when the load exceeds the strength. The load is straightforward; it is the weight of the snow. However, the strength of the snowpack is much more difficult to determine and is extremely heterogenous. It varies in detail with properties of the snow grains, size, density, morphology, temperature, water content; and the properties of the bonds between the grains. [2]These properties may all metamorphose in time according to the local humidity, water vapour flux, temperature and heat flux. The top of the snowpack is also extensively influenced by incoming radiation and the local air flow. One of the aims of avalanche research is to develop and validate computer models that can describe the evolution of the seasonal snowpack over time.[3]A complicating factor is the complex interaction of terrain and weather, which causes significant spatial and temporal variability of the depths, crystal forms, and layering of the seasonal snowpack.
Slab avalanches[edit]
Slab avalanches form frequently in snow that has been deposited, or redeposited by wind. They have the characteristic appearance of a block of snow cut out from its surroundings by fractures. Elements of slab avalanches include the following: a crown fracture at the top of the start zone, flank fractures on the sides of the start zones, and a fracture at the bottom called the staunchwall. The crown and flank fractures are vertical walls in the snow delineating the snow that was entrained in the avalanche from the snow that remained on the slope. Slabs can vary in thickness from a few centimetres to three metres. Slab avalanches account for around 90% of avalanche-related fatalities in backcountry users.
Powder snow avalanches[edit]
The largest avalanches form turbulent suspension currents known as powder snow avalanchesor mixed avalanches. These consist of a powder cloud, which overlies a dense avalanche. They can form from any type of snow or initiation mechanism, but usually occur with fresh dry powder. They can exceed speeds of 300 km/h, and masses of 10,000,000 tonnes; their flows can travel long distances along flat valley bottoms and even uphill for short distances.
Wet snow avalanches[edit]
In contrast to powder snow avalanches, wet snow avalanches are a low velocity suspension of snow and water, with the flow confined to the track surface (McClung, first edition 1999, page 108).[2]The low speed of travel is due to the friction between the sliding surface of the track and the water saturated flow. Despite the low speed of travel (~10–40 km/h), wet snow avalanches are capable of generating powerful destructive forces, due to the large mass, and density. The body of the flow of a wet snow avalanche can plough through soft snow, and can scour boulders, earth, trees, and other vegetation; leaving exposed, and often scored, ground in the avalanche track. Wet snow avalanches can be initiated from either loose snow releases, or slab releases, and only occur in snow packs that are water saturated and isothermally equilibrated to the melting point of water. The isothermal characteristic of wet snow avalanches has led to the secondary term of isothermal slides found in the literature (for example in Daffern, 1999, page 93).[4]At temperate latitudes wet snow avalanches are frequently associated with climatic avalanche cycles at the end of the winter season, when there is significant daytime warming.
Terrain, snowpack, weather[edit]
Doug Fesler and Jill Fredston developed a conceptual model of the three primary elements of avalanches: terrain, weather, and snowpack. Terrain describes the places where avalanches occur, weather describes the meteorological conditions that create the snowpack, and snowpack describes the structural characteristics of snow that make avalanche formation possible.[2][5]
Terrain[edit]




In steep avalanche-prone terrain, traveling on ridgesis generally safer than traversing the slopes.
Avalanche formation requires a slope shallow enough for snow to accumulate but steep enough for the snow to accelerate once set in motion by the combination of mechanical failure (of the snowpack) and gravity. The angle of the slope that can hold snow, called the angle of repose, depends on a variety of factors such as crystal form and moisture content. Some forms of drier and colder snow will only stick to shallower slopes, while wet and warm snow can bond to very steep surfaces. In particular, in coastal mountains, such as the Cordillera del Paineregion of Patagonia, deep snowpacks collect on vertical and even overhanging rock faces. The slope angle that can allow moving snow to accelerate depends on a variety of factors such as the snow's shear strength (which is itself dependent upon crystal form) and the configuration of layers and inter-layer interfaces.




Avalanche path with 800 metres (2,600 ft) vertical fall in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, Washington State. Avalanche paths in alpine terrain may be poorly defined because of limited vegetation. Below tree line, avalanche paths are often delineated by vegetative trim lines created by past avalanches. The start zone is visible near the top of the image, the track is in the middle of the image and clearly denoted by vegetative trimlines, and the runout zone is shown at the bottom of the image. One possible timeline is as follows: an avalanche forms in the start zone near the ridge, and then descends the track, until coming to rest in the runout zone.



A corniceof snow about to fall. Cracks in the snow are visible in area (1). Area (3) fell soon after this picture was taken, leaving area (2) as the new edge.
The snowpack on slopes with sunny exposures is strongly influenced by sunshine. Diurnal cycles of thawing and refreezing can stabilize the snowpack by promoting settlement. Strong freeze-thaw cycles result in the formation of surface crusts during the night and of unstable surface snow during the day. Slopes in the lee of a ridge or of another wind obstacle accumulate more snow and are more likely to include pockets of deep snow, wind slabs, and cornices, all of which, when disturbed, may result in avalanche formation. Conversely, the snowpack on a windward slope is often much shallower than on a lee slope.
Avalanches and avalanche paths share common elements: a start zone where the avalanche originates, a track along which the avalanche flows, and a runout zone where the avalanche comes to rest. The debris deposit is the accumulated mass of the avalanched snow once it has come to rest in the runout zone. For the image at left, many small avalanches form in this avalanche path every year, but most of these avalanches do not run the full vertical or horizontal length of the path. The frequency with which avalanches form in a given area is known as the return period.
The start zone of an avalanche must be steep enough to allow snow to accelerate once set in motion, additionally convexslopes are less stable than concaveslopes, because of the disparity between the tensile strengthof snow layers and their compressive strength. The composition and structure of the ground surface beneath the snowpack influences the stability of the snowpack, either being a source of strength or weakness. Avalanches are unlikely to form in very thick forests, but boulders and sparsely-distributed vegetation can create weak areas deep within the snowpack through the formation of strong temperature gradients. Full-depth avalanches (avalanches that sweep a slope virtually clean of snow cover) are more common on slopes with smooth ground, such as grass or rock slabs.
Generally speaking, avalanches follow drainages down-slope, frequently sharing drainage features with summertime watersheds. At and below tree line, avalanche paths through drainages are well defined by vegetation boundaries called trim lines, which occur where avalanches have removed trees and prevented regrowth of large vegetation. Engineered drainages, such as the avalanche damon Mount Stephenin Kicking Horse Pass, have been constructed to protect people and property by redirecting the flow of avalanches. Deep debris deposits from avalanches will collect in catchments at the terminus of a run out, such as gullies and river beds.
Slopes flatter than 25 degrees or steeper than 60 degrees typically have a lower incidence of avalanches. Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snow's angle of reposeis between 35 and 45 degrees; the critical angle, the angle at which human-triggered avalanches are most frequent, is 38 degrees. When the incidence of human triggered avalanches is normalized by the rates of recreational use, however, hazard increases uniformly with slope angle, and no significant difference in hazard for a given exposure direction can be found.[6]The rule of thumb is: A slope that is flat enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski has the potential to generate an avalanche, regardless of the angle.
Snowpack structure and characteristics[edit]




After surface hoarfrostbecomes buried by later snowfall, the buried hoar layer can be a weak layer upon which upper layers can slide.
The snowpack is composed of ground-parallel layers that accumulate over the winter. Each layer contains ice grains that are representative of the distinct meteorological conditions during which the snow formed and was deposited. Once deposited, a snow layer continues to evolve under the influence of the meteorological conditions that prevail after deposition.
For an avalanche to occur, it is necessary that a snowpack have a weak layer (or instability) below a slab of cohesive snow. In practice the formal mechanical and structural factors related to snowpack instability are not directly observable outside of laboratories, thus the more easily observed properties of the snow layers (e.g. penetration resistance, grain size, grain type, temperature) are used as index measurements of the mechanical properties of the snow (e.g. tensile strength, frictioncoefficients, shear strength, and ductile strength). This results in two principal sources of uncertainty in determining snowpack stability based on snow structure: First, both the factors influencing snow stability and the specific characteristics of the snowpack vary widely within small areas and time scales, resulting in significant difficulty extrapolating point observations of snow layers across different scales of space and time. Second, the relationship between readily observable snowpack characteristics and the snowpack's critical mechanical properties has not been completely developed.
While the deterministic relationship between snowpack characteristics and snowpack stability is still a matter of ongoing scientific study, there is a growing empirical understanding of the snow composition and deposition characteristics that influence the likelihood of an avalanche. Observation and experience has shown that newly fallen snow requires time to bond with the snow layers beneath it, especially if the new snow falls during very cold and dry conditions. If ambient air temperatures are cold enough, shallow snow above or around boulders, plants, and other discontinuities in the slope, weakens from rapid crystal growth that occurs in the presence of a critical temperature gradient. Large, angular snow crystals are indicators of weak snow, because such crystals have fewer bonds per unit volume than small, rounded crystals that pack tightly together. Consolidated snow is less likely to slough than loose powdery layers or wet isothermal snow; however, consolidated snow is a necessary condition for the occurrence of slab avalanches, and persistent instabilities within the snowpack can hide below well-consolidated surface layers. Uncertainty associated with the empirical understanding of the factors influencing snow stability leads most professional avalanche workers to recommend conservative use of avalanche terrain relative to current snowpack instability.
Weather[edit]




After digging a snow pit, it is possible to evaluate the snowpack for unstable layers. In this picture, snow from a weak layer has been easily scraped away by hand, leaving a horizontal line in the wall of the pit.
Avalanches can only occur in a standing snowpack. Typically winter seasons at high latitudes, high altitudes, or both, have weather that is sufficiently unsettled, and cold enough for precipitated snow to accumulate into a seasonal snowpack. Continentality, through its potentiating influence on the meteorological extremes experienced by snowpacks, is an important factor in the evolution of instabilities, and consequential the occurrence of avalanches. Conversely, proximity to coastal environmentsmoderates the meteorological extremes experienced by snowpacks, and results in a faster stabilization of the snowpack after storm cycles.[7]The evolution of the snowpack is critically sensitive to small variations within the narrow range of meteorological conditions that allow for the accumulation of snow into a snowpack. Among the critical factors controlling snowpack evolution are: heating by the sun, radiational cooling, vertical temperature gradientsin standing snow, snowfall amounts, and snow types. Generally, mild winter weather will promote the settlement and stabilization of the snowpack; and conversely very cold, windy, or hot weather will weaken the snowpack.
At temperatures close to the freezing point of water, or during times of moderate solar radiation, a gentle freeze-thaw cycle will take place. The melting and refreezing of water in the snow strengthens the snowpack during the freezing phase and weakens it during the thawing phase. A rapid rise in temperature, to a point significantly above the freezing point of water, may cause avalanche formation at any time of year.
Persistent cold temperatures can either prevent new snow from stabilizing or destabilize the existing snowpack. Cold air temperatures on the snow surface produce a temperature gradient in the snow, because the ground temperature at the base of the snowpack is usually around °C, and the ambient air temperature can be much colder. When a temperature gradient greater than 10 °C change per vertical meter of snow is sustained for more than a day, angular crystals called depth hoaror facets begin forming in the snowpack because of rapid moisture transport along the temperature gradient. These angular crystals, which bond poorly to one another and the surrounding snow, often become a persistent weakness in the snowpack. When a slab lying on top of a persistent weakness is loaded by a force greater than the strength of the slab and persistent weak layer, the persistent weak layer can fail and generate an avalanche.
Any wind stronger than a light breeze can contribute to a rapid accumulation of snow on sheltered slopes downwind. Wind slab forms quickly and, if present, weaker snow below the slab may not have time to adjust to the new load. Even on a clear day, wind can quickly load a slope with snow by blowing snow from one place to another. Top-loading occurs when wind deposits snow from the top of a slope; cross-loading occurs when wind deposits snow parallel to the slope. When a wind blows over the top of a mountain, the leeward, or downwind, side of the mountain experiences top-loading, from the top to the bottom of that lee slope. When the wind blows across a ridge that leads up the mountain, the leeward side of the ridge is subject to cross-loading. Cross-loaded wind-slabs are usually difficult to identify visually.
Snowstorms and rainstorms are important contributors to avalanche danger. Heavy snowfall will cause instability in the existing snowpack, both because of the additional weight and because the new snow has insufficient time to bond to underlying snow layers. Rain has a similar effect. In the short-term, rain causes instability because, like a heavy snowfall, it imposes an additional load on the snowpack; and, once rainwater seeps down through the snow, it acts as a lubricant, reducing the natural friction between snow layers that holds the snowpack together. Most avalanches happen during or soon after a storm.
Daytime exposure to sunlight will rapidly destabilize the upper layers of the snowpack if the sunlight is strong enough to melt the snow, thereby reducing its hardness. During clear nights, the snowpack can re-freeze when ambient air temperatures fall below freezing, through the process of long-wave radiative cooling, or both. Radiative heat loss occurs when the night air is significantly cooler than the snowpack, and the heat stored in the snow is re-radiated into the atmosphere.
Dynamics[edit]
When a slab avalanche forms, the slab disintegrates into increasingly smaller fragments as the snow travels downhill. If the fragments become small enough the outer layer of the avalanche, called a saltation layer, takes on the characteristics of a fluid. When sufficiently fine particles are present they can become airborne and, given a sufficient quantity of airborne snow, this portion of the avalanche can become separated from the bulk of the avalanche and travel a greater distance as a powder snow avalanche.[8]Scientific studies using radar, following the 1999 Galtür avalanche disaster, confirmed the hypothesis that a saltation layerforms between the surface and the airborne components of an avalanche, which can also separate from the bulk of the avalanche.[9]
Driving an avalanche is the component of the avalanche's weight parallel to the slope; as the avalanche progresses any unstable snow in its path will tend to become incorporated, so increasing the overall weight. This force will increase as the steepness of the slope increases, and diminish as the slope flattens. Resisting this are a number of components that are thought to interact with each other: the friction between the avalanche and the surface beneath; friction between the air and snow within the fluid; fluid-dynamic drag at the leading edge of the avalanche; shear resistance between the avalanche and the air through which it is passing, and shear resistance between the fragments within the avalanche itself. An avalanche will continue to accelerate until the resistance exceeds the forward force.[10]
Modelling[edit]
Attempts to model avalanche behaviour date from the early 20th century, notably the work of Professor Lagotala in preparation for the 1924 Winter Olympicsin Chamonix.[11]His method was developed by A. Voellmy and popularised following the publication in 1955 of his Ueber die Zerstoerungskraft von Lawinen(On the Destructive Force of Avalanches).[12]
Voellmy used a simple empirical formula, treating an avalanche as a sliding block of snow moving with a drag force that was proportional to the square of the speed of its flow:[13]
\textrm{Pref} = \frac {1} {2} \, { \rho} \, { v^2} \,\!
He and others subsequently derived other formulae that take other factors into account, with the Voellmy-Salm-Gubler and the Perla-Cheng-McClung models becoming most widely used as simple tools to model flowing (as opposed to powder snow) avalanches.[11]
Since the 1990s many more sophisticated models have been developed. In Europe much of the recent work was carried out as part of the SATSIE (Avalanche Studies and Model Validation in Europe) research project supported by the European Commission[14]which produced the leading-edge MN2L model, now in use with the Service Réstitution Terrains en Montagne(Mountain Rescue Service) in France, and D2FRAM (Dynamical Two-Flow-Regime Avalanche Model), which was still undergoing validation as of 2007.[15]
Human involvement[edit]




United States Forest Serviceavalanche danger advisories.



Snow fencesin Switzerland



Avalanche blasting in French ski resortTignes(3,600 m)
Prevention[edit]
Main article: Avalanche control
Preventative measures are employed in areas where avalanches pose a significant threat to people, such as ski resortsand mountain towns, roads and railways. There are several ways to prevent avalanches and lessen their power and destruction; active preventative measures reduce the likelihood and size of avalanches by disrupting the structure of the snowpack; passive measures reinforce and stabilize the snowpack in situ. The simplest active measure is by repeatedly traveling on a snowpack as snow accumulates; this can be by means of boot-packing, ski-cutting, or machine grooming. Explosivesare used extensively to prevent avalanches, by triggering smaller avalanches that break down instabilities in the snowpack, and removing over burden that can result in larger avalanches. Explosive charges are delivered by a number of methods including hand tossed charges, helicopter dropped bombs, Gazex concussion lines, and ballistic projectiles launched by air cannons and artillery. Passive preventive systems such as Snow fencesand light walls can be used to direct the placement of snow. Snow builds up around the fence, especially the side that faces the prevailing winds. Downwind of the fence, snow buildup is lessened. This is caused by the loss of snow at the fence that would have been deposited and the pickup of the snow that is already there by the wind, which was depleted of snow at the fence. When there is a sufficient density of trees, they can greatly reduce the strength of avalanches. They hold snow in place and when there is an avalanche, the impact of the snow against the trees slows it down. Trees can either be planted or they can be conserved, such as in the building of a ski resort, to reduce the strength of avalanches.
Mitigation[edit]
In many areas, regular avalanche tracks can be identified and precautions can be taken to minimise damage, such as the prevention of development in these areas. To mitigate the effect of avalanches the construction of artificial barriers can be very effective in reducing avalanche damage. There are several types: One kind of barrier (snow net) uses a net strung between poles that are anchored by guy wiresin addition to their foundations. These barriers are similar to those used for rockslides. Another type of barrier is a rigid fence-like structure (snow fence) and may be constructed of steel, woodor pre-stressed concrete. They usually have gaps between the beams and are built perpendicular to the slope, with reinforcing beams on the downhill side. Rigid barriers are often considered unsightly, especially when many rows must be built. They are also expensive and vulnerable to damage from falling rocks in the warmer months. In addition to industrially manufactured barriers, landscaped barriers, called avalanche damsstop or deflect avalanches with their weight and strength. These barriers are made out of concrete, rocks or earth. They are usually placed right above the structure, road or railway that they are trying to protect, although they can also be used to channel avalanches into other barriers. Occasionally, earth moundsare placed in the avalanche's path to slow it down. Finally, along transportation corridors, large shelters, called snow sheds, can be built directly in the slide path of an avalanche to protect traffic from avalanches.
Survival, rescue, and recovery[edit]
Avalanche accidents are broadly differentiated into 2 categories: accidents in recreational settings, and accidents in residential, industrial, and transportation settings. This distinction is motivated by the observed difference in the causes of avalanche accidents in the two settings. In the recreational setting most accidents are caused by the people involved in the avalanche. In a 1996 study, Jamieson et al. (pages 7–20)[16]found that 83% of all avalanches in the recreational setting were caused by those who were involved in the accident. In contrast, all of the accidents in the residential, industrial, and transportation settings were due to spontaneous natural avalanches. Because of the difference in the causes of avalanche accidents, and the activities pursued in the two settings, avalanche and disaster management professionals have developed two related preparedness, rescue, and recovery strategies for each of the settings.
Main article: Avalanche rescue
Notable avalanches[edit]
See also: List of avalanches
Two avalanches occurred in March 1910 in the Cascade and Selkirk Mountain ranges; On March 1 the Wellington avalanchekilled 96 in Washington State, United States. Three days later 62 railroad workers were killed in the Rogers Pass avalanchein British Columbia, Canada.
During World War I, an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 soldiers died as a result of avalanches during the mountain campaign in the Alpsat the Austrian-Italianfront, many of which were caused by artilleryfire.[17][18]Some 10,000 men, from both sides, lost their lives in avalanches in December 1916.[19]
In the northern hemispherewinter of 1950–1951 approximately 649 avalanches were recorded in a three-month period throughout the Alpsin Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. This series of avalanches killed around 265 people and was termed the Winter of Terror.
A mountain climbing camp on Lenin Peak, in what is now Kyrgyzstan, was wiped out in 1990 when an earthquake triggered a large avalanche that overran the camp.[20]Forty-three climbers were killed.[21]
In 1993, the Bayburt Üzengili avalanchekilled 60 individuals in Üzengili in the province of Bayburt, Turkey.
A large avalanche in Montroc, France, in 1999, 300,000 cubic metres of snow slid on a 30° slope, achieving a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). It killed 12 people in their chalets under 100,000 tons of snow, 5 meters (16 feet) deep. The mayor of Chamonixwas convicted of second-degree murder for not evacuating the area, but received a suspended sentence.[22]
The small Austrian village of Galtürwas hit by the Galtür avalanchein 1999. The village was thought to be in a safe zone but the avalanche was exceptionally large and flowed into the village. Thirty-one people died.
An avalanchein the Siachen glacierin the Himalaya mountainsburied at least 124 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians in April 2012.[23]
An avalanche on Manaslu, in the Himalaya mountains, overwhelmed camp 3, early in morning of September 23, 2012 killing 11 climbers, and skiers.[24]
The 2012 Tunnel Creek avalancheoccurred on February 19, 2012 in the Tunnel Creek section of Stevens Pass, a mountain pass through the Cascade Mountains located at the border of King County and Chelan County in Washington, United States.[1]
Classification[edit]
European avalanche risk table[edit]
In Europe, the avalanche risk is widely rated on the following scale, which was adopted in April 1993 to replace the earlier non-standard national schemes. Descriptions were last updated in May 2003 to enhance uniformity.[25]
In France, most avalanche deaths occur at risk levels 3 and 4. In Switzerland most occur at levels 2 and 3. It is thought that this may be due to national differences of interpretation when assessing the risks.[26]

Risk Level
Snow Stability
Flag
Avalanche Risk
1 - Low Snow is generally very stable. Avalanche-risk-1-2.svg Avalanches are unlikely except when heavy loads are applied on a very few extreme steep slopes. Any spontaneous avalanches will be minor sloughs. In general, safe conditions.
2 - Limited On some steep slopes the snow is only moderately stable. Elsewhere it is very stable. Avalanche-risk-1-2.svg Avalanches may be triggered when heavy loads are applied, especially on a few generally identified steep slopes. Large spontaneous avalanches are not expected.
3 - Medium On many steep slopes the snow is only moderately or weakly stable. Avalanche-risk.svg Avalanches may be triggered on many slopes even if only light loads are applied. On some slopes, medium or even fairly large spontaneous avalanches may occur.
4 - High On most steep slopes the snow is not very stable. Avalanche-risk.svg Avalanches are likely to be triggered on many slopes even if only light loads are applied. In some places, many medium or sometimes large spontaneous avalanches are likely.
5 - Very High The snow is generally unstable. Avalanche-risk-5.svg Even on gentle slopes, many large spontaneous avalanches are likely to occur.
[1] Stability:
Generally described in more detail in the avalanche bulletin (regarding the altitude, aspect, type of terrain etc.)
[2] additional load:
heavy: two or more skiers or boarders without spacing between them, a single hikeror climber, a grooming machine, avalanche blasting
light: a single skier or snowboarder smoothly linking turns and without falling, a group of skiers or snowboarders with a minimum 10 m gap between each person, a single person on snowshoes
Gradient:
gentle slopes: with an incline below about 30°
steep slopes: with an incline over 30°
very steep slopes: with an incline over 35°
extremely steep slopes: extreme in terms of the incline (over 40°), the terrain profile, proximity of the ridge, smoothness of underlying ground
European avalanche size table[edit]
Avalanche size:

Size
Runout
Potential Damage
Physical Size
1 - Sluff Small snow slide that cannot bury a person, though there is a danger of falling. Unlikely, but possible risk of injury or death to people. length <50 m
volume <100 m³
2 - Small Stops within the slope. Could bury, injure or kill a person. length <100 m
volume <1,000 m³
3 - Medium Runs to the bottom of the slope. Could bury and destroy a car, damage a truck, destroy small buildings or break trees. length <1,000 m
volume <10,000 m³
4 - Large Runs over flat areas (significantly less than 30°) of at least 50 m in length, may reach the valley bottom. Could bury and destroy large trucks and trains, large buildings and forested areas. length >1,000 m
volume >10,000 m³
North American Avalanche Danger Scale[edit]




Danger Scale - English
In the United Statesand Canada, the following avalanche danger scale is used. Descriptors vary depending on country.
Canadian classification for avalanche size[edit]
The Canadian classification for avalanche size is based upon the consequences of the avalanche. Half sizes are commonly used.[27]

Size
Destructive Potential
1 Relatively harmless to people.
2 Could bury, injure or kill a person.
3 Could bury and destroy a car, damage a truck, destroy a small building or break a few trees.
4 Could destroy a railway car, large truck, several buildings or a forest area up to 4 hectares.
5 Largest snow avalanche known. Could destroy a village or a forest of 40 hectares.
United States classification for avalanche size[edit]

Size
Destructive Potential[27]
1 Sluff or snow that slides less than 50m (150') of slope distance.
2 Small, relative to path.
3 Medium, relative to path.
4 Large, relative to path.
5 Major or maximum, relative to path.
Rutschblock Test[edit]
Slab avalanche hazard analysis can be done using the Rutschblock Test. A 2 m wide block of snow is isolated from the rest of the slope and progressively loaded. The result is a rating of slope stability on a seven step scale.[28](Rutsch means slide in German).
See also[edit]
Related flows[edit]
Debris flow
Gravity current
Lahar
Landslide
Mudflow
Pyroclastic flow
Rockslide
Slush flow
Famous avalanche disasters[edit]
Galtür Avalanche
Montroc
Siachen Glacier
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
McClung, David. Snow Avalanches as a Non-critical, Punctuated Equilibrium System: Chapter 24 in Nonlinear Dynamics in Geosciences, A.A. Tsonsis and J.B. Elsner (Eds.), Springer, 2007
Mark the Mountain Guide: Avalanche!: a children's book about an avalanche that includes definitions & explanations of the phenomenon
Daffern, Tony: Avalanche Safety for Skiers, Climbers and Snowboarders, Rocky Mountain Books, 1999, ISBN 0-921102-72-0
Billman, John. "Mike Elggren on Surviving an Avalanche". Skiingmagazine February 2007: 26.
McClung, David and Shaerer, Peter: The Avalanche Handbook, The Mountaineers: 2006. 978-0-89886-809-8
Tremper, Bruce: Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, The Mountaineers: 2001. ISBN 0-89886-834-3
Munter, Werner: Drei mal drei (3x3) Lawinen. Risikomanagement im Wintersport, Bergverlag Rother, 2002. ISBN 3-7633-2060-1(German)(partial English translation included in PowderGuide: Managing Avalanche RiskISBN 0-9724827-3-3)
Michael Falser: Historische Lawinenschutzlandschaften: eine Aufgabe für die Kulturlandschafts- und DenkmalpflegeIn: kunsttexte 3/2010, unter: http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/kunsttexte/2010-3/falser-michael-1/PDF/falser.pdf
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^"Flows". Geology.campus.ad.csulb.edu. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
2.^ Jump up to: abcMcClung, David and Shaerer, Peter: The Avalanche Handbook, The Mountaineers: 2006. ISBN 978-0-89886-809-8
3.Jump up ^SNOWPACK[dead link]
4.Jump up ^Daffern, Tony: Avalanche Safety for Skiers, Climbers and Snowboarders, Rocky Mountain Books: 1999. ISBN 0-921102-72-0
5.Jump up ^Fesler, Doug and Fredston, Jill: Snow Sense, Alaska Mountain Safety Center, Inc. 2011. ISBN 978-0-615-49935-2
6.Jump up ^Pascal Hageli et al.
7.Jump up ^Whiteman, Charles David: Mountain Meteorology: Fundamentals and Applications, Oxford University Press: 2001. ISBN 0-19-513271-8
8.Jump up ^SATSIE Final Report (large PDF file - 33.1 Mb), page 94, October 1, 2005 to May 31, 2006
9.Jump up ^Horizon: Anatomy of an Avalanche, BBC', 1999-11-25
10.Jump up ^Avalanche Dynamics, Art Mears, 2002-07-11
11.^ Jump up to: abSnow Avalanches, Christophe Ancey
12.Jump up ^VOELLMY, A., 1955. Ober die Zerstorunskraft von Lawinen. Schweizerische Bauzetung (English: On the Destructive Force of Avalanches. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service).
13.Jump up ^Quantification de la sollicitation structures métaliques avalancheuse par analyse en retour du comportement de structures métallliques, page 14, Pôle Grenoblois d’études et de recherchepour la Prévention des risques naturels, October 2003, in French
14.Jump up ^SATSIE - Avalanche Studies and Model Validation in Europe
15.Jump up ^SATSIE Final Report (large PDF file - 33.1 Mb), October 1, 2005 to May 31, 2006
16.Jump up ^Jamieson, Bruce; Torsten Geldstzer. "Avalanche Accidents in Canada Volume 4: 1984-1996". Canadian Avalanche Association. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
17.Jump up ^Lee Davis (2008). "Natural Disasters". Infobase Publishing. p.7. ISBN 0-8160-7000-8
18.Jump up ^Eduard Rabofsky et al., Lawininenhandbuch, Innsbruck, Verlaganstalt Tyrolia, 1986, p. 11
19.Jump up ^History Channel - December 13, 1916: Soldiers perish in avalanche as World War I rages
20.Jump up ^Clines, Francis X. (July 18, 1990). "Avalanche Kills 40 Climbers in Soviet Central Asia". The New York Times.
21.Jump up ^"Lenin Peak. Historical background of Lenin Peak. The first expedition to Lenin Peak". Centralasia-travel.com. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
22.Jump up ^PisteHors.com: Montroc Avalanche
23.Jump up ^"Pakistan avalanche: 'We are keeping our fingers crossed'". BBC News. April 7, 2012.
24.Jump up ^Hill, Greg. "Disaster Strikes on Manaslu". Retrieved 7 March 2013.
25.Jump up ^[1][dead link]
26.Jump up ^An Analysis of French Avalanche Accidents for 2005-2006
27.^ Jump up to: abJamieson, Bruce (2000). Backcountry Avalanche Awareness. Canadian Avalanche Association. ISBN 0-9685856-1-2.
28.Jump up ^Doug Abromelt and Greg Johnson (winter, 2011-2012). "Learn how to: Perform A Rutschblock Test". USFS National Avalanche Center. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
External links[edit]
Find more about Avalancheat Wikipedia's sister projects
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 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avalanche chute.
The Avalanche Education Project
Surviving an Avalanche - A guide for children and youth
Avalanche Awareness
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Canadian Avalanche Association
CBC Digital Archives – Avalanche!
Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies
EAWS - European Avalanche Warning Services
Directory of European avalanche services
Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research
sportscotland Avalanche Information Service
 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Avalanche". Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.But note the myths cited above
Evidence of heuristic traps in recreational avalanche accidentsby Ian McCammon, National Outdoor Leadership School, Lander, WY, USA
Utah Avalanche Center
New Zealand Avalanche Centre
Gulmarg Avalanche Center
US Avalanche.org
Sierra Avalanche Center (Tahoe National Forest)


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