{
  "id": 18362925,
  "title": "Asteroids' Oddball Shapes Make Deflecting Them Challenging",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/asteroids-oddball-shapes-make-deflecting-them-challenging",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-05T19:26:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Universe Today",
    "slug": "universe-today",
    "url": "https://www.universetoday.com/articles/asteroids-oddball-shapes-make-deflecting-them-challenging"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "In a pinch, we could use a stand-off nuclear blast to redirect a dangerous asteroid on short notice. There's no atmospheric shock wave in space, but the x-ray pulse could still deflect the space rock. But asteroids aren't round and uniform, so their weird shapes make it difficult.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}