Unknown objects - the local ones are gonna hit Kerbin!

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

I just discovered a trio of asteroids near Kerbin - and figured out how to track them to show their orbits... or in this case, lack thereof.

I thought I might try to intercept one - but they're all destined to crash - and are on effectively polar orbits.

 

Should I just assume the atmosphere will take care of them and look for an asteroid with closer to equatorial orbital inclination?

[king of nowhere]

i've seen asteroids on collision course with kerbin in my career, and i've never seen anything happen because of them. so, i assume you can ignore then and be safe.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Grin - I figured that... my real question is - when looking for a first Asteroid Interception... is it worth ignoring the hard ones and waiting for something easier to try.

 

Frankly - I've decided on that, considering I've not yet landed anywhere but the Mun and Minmus.

 

e.g. - I just found one on the planetary plane - and initially thought I would go for it... until I realized it is going the opposite direction around Kerbol from Kerbin.  Gonna let that one go too.

Edited December 6, 2020 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[jimmymcgoochie]

It’s possible to grab an asteroid in any plane around Kerbin, you just need to launch into its plane to make things a lot easier. Select the asteroid as your target when it enters Kerbin’s SOI, wait for the KSC to move directly under its trajectory and launch to match orbital planes, then do a Hohmann transfer to intercept when it’s still far out from Kerbin.

[Streetwind]

The thing about unknown objects is that they don't actually exist as a physical object until you (that is, the player's current control point) gets within a certain distance of them. Only then do they actually spawn in.

Before then they are just blips on your tracking station view, and cannot hit or hurt anyone or anything.

[Superfluous J]

And even if you do go out there and create them "for real" the only thing they'll destroy upon hitting Kerbin is themselves, no matter how big they are.