Nuking An Asteroid on Short Notice Could Save Us
Readers of a certain age will remember a golden area of asteroid films, capstoned by two with very different endings. Deep Impact engrained the devastating consequences of letting a large piece of rock hit our planet, whereas Armageddon, though arguably the more kitschy of the two films, was an uplifting story about technical ingenuity and sacrifice. And now, the central crux of that movie’s…
A new paper explores the idea of using nuclear explosions to protect Earth from a potential asteroid collision. There are currently 10,933 near-Earth asteroids with diameters larger than 460 feet, and some simulations suggest there are many more undiscovered ones that could threaten our planet with continent-wide or even global destruction if they hit Earth.
The lead author of the paper warns that with such a short time between asteroid discovery and impact, the only viable defense strategy is to deliver as much force as possible to the asteroid to either break it apart or alter its orbit. Two potential scenarios were examined: the first involves simply flying a nuclear weapon into the asteroid and detonating it, while the second involves pre-excavating a crater in the asteroid using conventional projectiles before detonating a nuclear device within the crater.
The second scenario is expected to be more effective, as it transfers more energy into shifting the asteroid's path. However, the proposed methods come with significant engineering challenges, such as selecting the ideal impact site, ensuring precise detonation timing, and navigating debris created by the impact.
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