It would take an extremely large spacecraft to deflect a large asteroid that would be headed directly for the Earth.
Rusty SchweickartIf we do our homework right, never again should an asteroid that can do damage on the ground impact the Earth. We're living in a time-with our technology-we have the capability to eliminate that major shaper of evolution . . . the evolution of life on this planet.
Rusty SchweickartIn the short term, some deadly virus might be more important, but in the long run there is hardly anything more important than asteroids.
Rusty SchweickartAs you pass from sunlight into darkness and back again every hour and a half, you become startlingly aware how artificial are thousands of boundaries we've created to separate and define. And for the first time in your life you feel in your gut the precious unity of the Earth and all the living things it supports.
Rusty Schweickart