Mirrored army to protect Earth

A fleet of satellites carrying large mirrors, flying in close formation, could save the human race from the fate of the dinosaurs, according to space scientists at Glasgow University.

The ‘Mirror Bee’ concept is the best method for deflecting asteroids on a collision course with Earth, explained Massimiliano Vasile of the university’s Space Advanced Research Team (SpaceART).

Asteroid impacts are a real threat, Vasile stressed: far from being science fiction, they have occurred many times. The Tunguska event in 1908 devastated an area the size of London. ‘If a 100m wide asteroid hit the Earth, the result would be the equivalent of 2000 nuclear bombs,’ he said. Moreover, there are hundreds of asteroids whose orbits around the sun cross the Earth’s; a 400m wide asteroid called Apophis is scheduled to come near enough to Earth in 2029 for its orbit to be affected, which could nudge it into a collision course with the planet in 2036.