Astronomers determine Asteroid Apophis will hit the Earth
 

http://asteroidapophis.com/

its the end of the world as we know it
and i feel fine.

Good.

I think one of the more feasible and interesting ideas about how to deter it is launching a Ion driven orbiter to attach itself to it in 2029, the gravity from the satellite if pulling in the right direction would be enough to deter the 2036 course.

You got alot more to worry about in the forseeable future, not some asteroid 15 years off or whatever the time frame is.

On the contrary, Apophis visiting near-Earth standard in 2029 and 2036 is analogous to warnings the American economy has received 10-15 years prior to the current financial crisis we're experiencing. If anything I think preemptively conquering this problem would provide precedent for future changes to the way we spend, eat, etc.

I hear the vah shir live on Apophis... personally i think we should blow it up :3

Best idea I've heard all day!

We just need Bruce Willis and his deep core drilling team.

Sheesh - what a bullcrap.

Article says "within 18000 miles" - that's roughly 29000 kilometres. earth radius is about 6450 km (including atmosphere). Divide the area of a circle with radius 29000 km by the "to hit" area: pi*R² / (pi*r²) and you get a rough chance for a hit of 1 in 20. While that is enough to be worried about, it is hardly a "will hit".

It's not going to thread the key hole. It'll come close though.