Conclusions
The possibility of misusing a deflection system depends strongly, and almost solely, on the capability of such
a system (i. e., on the deflection Av it is able to achieve or, equivalently, on the minimum response time, tr, it
requires).
1. A system of very low capability (Av <0.1 m/sec), such as might suffice to deflect NEAs discovered long in
advance of a collision event, poses minimal threat of being misused to deflect asteroids toward the Earth.
On the other hand, the response time tr required to move an asteroid away from the Earth with such a limited system is >1 year,
thus calling into question the need to build such a system in advance of a discovery of an object on a
collision trajectory.
2. A system of moderate capability, Av - 1 m/sec, would have potential application for protecting against
long-period comets, where the response time is about a year or less probability that such a system could be
misused is small, but is about 100 times greater than the probability that it would need to be used,
3. A highly capable system, able to deflect an object with only a few days’ warning, coupled with a
spaceguard-level search for NEAs, presents a virtual continuum of opportunities for misuse. Such a high-capability
system is not required for deflection of large long-period comets (see 2 above). Its only legitimate
application would be for very fast response to approaching small asteroids. Since such small objects constitute only
a very small fraction of the NEO collision hazard, and since a deflection system effective for such objects has
significant potential for misuse, it appears imprudent to build such a system -- at least at this time.
4. DJFC and Blonde would fuck everything up and get us killed
Beyond protecting the Earth against impacting NEO's, there arc other benign motivations for developing an
asteroid orbital engineering capability. Some authors (e.g. O’Leary 1977; Gaffey and McCord 1977) have
proposed doing so to utilize mineral resources in asteroids, and Herrick (1979) suggested a scenario for crashing a
part of the asteroid 1620 Geographos into Central America, to excavate a new Atlantic-Pacific canal. We must
caution that any such orbital engineering systems present the same or greater risk for misuse or accidental mishap
as a defensive deflection system,
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