Meteors

I just love meteors and space junk, and volcanoes and trains. But today meteors have my attention 
IOWA STATE ENGINEERS DEVELOPING IDEAS, TECHNOLOGIES TO SAVE THE EARTH FROM ASTEROIDS cool right?

I also love Bruce Willis and have long been a fan of his movie gusto that results in minimum injuries. Always. And, until now it was in movies that people like Bruce Willis could save the earth from asteroids; or, in fact, partially save the earth, as it wasn't a complete success, was it! 

It seems the nerds have finally inherited the earth, and when and if, the time comes that we sit in the path of a meteor bigger than somewhere between a grain of sand and a small star, it will instead be a carefully executed statistical diagnostic rather than muscle and nuclear power, that will save the day. Which is actually quite a relief. 

When I read these articles Meteorite soars over russia and Look out close encounters of the asteroidal kind I envision myself as Willis's nerd side-kick planning, with no emotion and enormous situational gravity the last chances of earth. Hurtling toward the meteor in a tin can called 'RUST BUCKET' (or maybe 'Serenity' if I got lucky); glancing back dispassionately at the shrinking earth in the window behind me, in a 'my time has come kinda way' and rushing to address red flashing lights and shout yes commander, 'sir, we have incoming' etc... 

However, I now daydream myself in an appropriate sized spacecraft with robot arms and finely tuned motor skills fitting rocket boosters onto space rock hurtling with great velocity to earths pending doom, and firing up those beauties, steering them from their path just a few centimetres, probably 50-100 prior to impact, less fanfare, certainly, no impending doom, but so freaking exciting! Where do I sign up!