On 4/09/2018 9:29 AM, wrote:
"The notion of an asteroid headed for Earth is typically seen as a bad omen. On
the flip side, some scientists and entrepreneurs increasingly see this scenario
as a potential opportunity. Deliberately redirecting asteroids to our planet’s
vicinity could enable us to study them up close, or even mine them.

Another issue is determining whether the target object is solid, or just
a rubble pile - push the latter towards the Earth, and even if it
survives going inside its Roche limit, it won't survive an encounter
with the atmosphere.

Of course, if it's a rubble pile, you'll soon discover that once you try
to push it, and hopefully you'd notice beforehand. But you could spend
an awful lot visiting objects that turn out to be useless.

Sylvia.