Towing asteroids away from Earth?

Two NASA scientists are proposing an idea in which a 20-ton vehicle would tow asteroids away from Earth, should one ever be on a path to strike Earth. Do the movies Deep Impact or Armageddon ring a bell?





From the article:

[blockquote]Now, two NASA astronauts have presented a plan for an “asteroid tractor”—an unmanned, 20-ton spacecraft that uses the invisible bond of gravity to gently pull an asteroid into a new, non-threatening orbit.

“You can think of it like a big elastic band between the two pulling them together,” said Edward Lu, who presents the concept for the spacecraft with fellow astronaut Stanley Love in the Nov. 10 issue of the journal Nature.

The tractor would hover above the surface of the asteroid, without touching it, and use gravity as a towline. If the spacecraft maintains a consistent distance between it and the asteroid, and always tows in the same direction, this method won’t disturb the asteroid’s rotation or composition.[/blockquote]

Interesting idea you say? I think it would really work. It might take a long time to actually alter the asteroid's orbit, but it would work...

(Image courtesy of space.com)

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/051109_asteroid_tractor.html