Even if something precluded astronomers from making principled calculations of the impact probability up until five years before the date of the hit, and before that the maximum that they could say would be “we cannot confidently rule out the possibility of an impact”, this would still be treated like an existential threat.
Even if something precluded astronomers from making principled calculations of the impact probability up until five years before the date of the hit, and before that the maximum that they could say would be “we cannot confidently rule out the possibility of an impact”, this would still be treated like an existential threat.
It doesn’t seem like anything could preclude all of the world’s astronomers from making calculations regarding impact events.
Can you explain how the presence or absence of such an unlikely restriction relates to your latter point?