What if in 2044 an asteroid will obliterate Earth?

The asteroid would be the ultimate antibiotic to rid the planet, and the solar system, of this planetary infection known as Man.
(Consider the old sci-fi classic movie, “When Worlds Collide.”)

Send out ships to all corners of the Solar System
On board put the Twelve
The poet, the physician, the farmer, the scientist
The magician and the other so-called gods of our legends
Though gods they are
And as the elders of our time choose to remain blind
Let us rejoice and let us sing and dance and ring in the new

Unless I live to be 120 years old, I won’t be affected.

I will be to old to give a shit, so I will just sit back with my Vodka martini and wait for the big bang.

I saw that movie :-)

1) the world in its present political state would not have the will to do something constructive. They would dither and bicker and we would all die.

2) A thousand survivors means 7 billion dead people. Who decides who the “best” are?

If this were a real happening, the world would turn into mob rule and mass slaughter in a matter of months.

It is plain to see then…just call me Noah.

For once and for all (yeah, right…); it is a near hit.

24 years is probably too little time to develop and build the technology for such a ship.

The power politics would also tend to get in the way. The super-wealthy and possible will tend to want more spots, and will pull out all their dirty tricks to get it, but will likely come into conflict with each other as well.

If it’s certain the Earth will be completely destroyed in 24 years, the closer that date comes, the less people will think in terms of caring about the future of the planet they think will be destroyed. Some will think in terms of how to get on this ship. Others will give up in one way or another. Others will find spiritual and/or philisophyical ways of coping and accepting inevitable destruction at a certain date. Others may plan to survive on other ways.

Then none of this will have mattered

@SQUEEKY2, tequila for me, but I’m with you on that. Maybe we can get some awesome pictures to be discovered by some returning future generation.

I think the extremely wealthy would not sign on to an ark. I think they would commission their own ship, or fleet.
I don’t see there being a lottery of general population either.
I’m sure there would be a sharp decline in pregnancies.
I think to be chosen there would be a strict guidelines for health and general usefulness, and then a lottery within those people.
I think there would be a great debate over whether any animals should be preserved.
Democrats would be immobilized by refusal to believe everyone can’t go.
Military worldwide would be disbanded to focus efforts and budgets on the technology and mechanic’s of building escape vehicles. Currency would collapse because intended survivors would face a future without an inequality of possession.
Universities would be focused on technologies because of a push to discover means of creating an atmosphere, because even if no moon or planet could be habitable, air for a thousand year ark?
Also because the most well trained would be the best candidates for a spot in the ark. There would be a sudden explosion of people being trained for medical professions, however, medical treatment of currents conditions would come to an almost complete halt.
Hoards of historians would be compiling documentary stores on memory chips.

Some might think murder rates would drop, but it would actually increase by ten fold or more. People would lose fear of detection, as everyone would seek ways to enjoy as many comforts as possible. With little to no police to regulate anything, planet earth would become a catastrophic free for all.
With all inhibition dropped, humankind would see what truly barbaric creatures we are.
Those chosen to occupy the ark would have to be isolated, for their own safety.

As long as we can get through the next century or so, I think a Mars colony would be able to take on a big group of refugees in case something like this happens. Anyway, there would probably just be a huge push to get as many people to Mars as possible.

Does this Ark get built? Yes, maybe more a space station than Ark.

Does the world make it to 2044? Sure.

Do you think anyone should be able to buy their place on board? No, take the smartest and most needed, let the rest of us die.

What will the government on the ship be like? Dictatorship.

Will humanity be able to join forces to build one ark, or will every super power build its own?
Each superpower would have their own of course.

What would the last 20 years of Earth be like? Chaos, destruction, depression, a lot of suicides.

I’ll be 68, not a bad run.

I think it would be fascinating to see if all of those disaster movies were correct in terms of destruction and the end of the world.

Except I wouldn’t be here to find out.

I would be 90 and odds are I’ll be dead by then, so BRING IT ON!!!

Noah ain’t ever around when you really need him.

We’ll all die. Nothing I can do about the asteroid.