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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7486118" data-attributes="member: 177">Hm.  This is a good one.  The kinetic energy of a non-relativistic object is 1/2 M V^2.  So, there are two basic ways for it to have a lot of KE.  One is for it to be big, and the other is for it to be fast.  Note that the energy goes linearly with the mass, but goes like the square of the velocity.  Double the mass, you double the KE.  Double the velocity, and you *quadruple* the energy.And, part of making this work, or at least be cinematically plausible - make the asteroid less small, but faster.  That, overall, makes it easier to push around.Now, not, pushing "along a vector it is mostly going" doesn't help.  Any portion of her effort that moves along the line of the asteroid's current motion makes it reach Earth faster, and hit harder.  She needs to add velocity more or less perpendicular to its current motion.  We can set up things to minimize how much she needs to do.  If the thing is aimed dead center, she needs to move it 4000 miles in order to be a clear miss.  If we set it up as an off-center, almost glancing blow, then she only needs to move the thing a few hundred miles.  Mind you, she needs to move the thing a few hundred miles in 5 minutes.  If it is, say, 400 miles in 5 minutes is like 4800 miles per hour.  She has to add 5000 mph *to the mass of an asteroid* and that's if she takes the asteroid from its current path to +4800 MPH instantly.  If she takes time to accelerate it, the first moments are slow, and the end speed must be even higher to succeed.Note - this is basically saying that she, alone, can create an impact roughly equivalent to the asteroid's impact herself.  She is capable of ending civilization.  Is that the power level of your hero?</blockquote>

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