Russian spacecraft to knock away asteroid?

huh?
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By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 30, 8:47 am ET

MOSCOW – Russia is considering sending a spacecraft to a large asteroid to knock it off its path and prevent a possible collision with Earth, the head of the country's space agency said Wednesday.

Anatoly Perminov said the space agency will hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis, telling Golos Rossii radio that it would invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project once it is finalized.

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated the chances of it smashing into Earth in its first flyby in 2029 were as high as 1-in-37, but have since lowered their estimate.

Further studies ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) above Earth's surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters."

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_russia_asteroid_encounter

It sounds a little like that move with Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck et al. Mama.

I do wonder what the real motive is here as the millitary have lasers and what have you that I'm sure are more than up to the task of blasting an asteroid into oblivion.