Scientists exploring if deploying nuke could stop catastrophic asteroid

News

By David Propper

Scientists are exploring whether they might save Earth with a plot from a sci-fi disaster movie.

A study released this month investigated whether a nuke could be shot “millions of miles” into space to prevent a catastrophic asteroid from wrecking the planet.

Researchers with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) developed a modeling tool that could assess that possibility on the heels of a 2022 mission from NASA that successfully misdirected a giant space rock.

The new tool, detailed in the Planetary Science Journal, helps scientists understand if another option could be at their disposal after NASA deployed a kinetic impactor, in this case a spacecraft, to knock the 2022 asteroid off course during the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission.

“If we have enough warning time, we could potentially launch a nuclear device, sending it millions of miles away to an asteroid that is headed toward Earth,” LLNL physicist Mary Burkey, who was head of the research team in a statement.

Nuclear devices have a higher percentage of energy density per unit than the kinetic impactor used by the space agency, which would make it a more effective method against asteroids, Burkey noted.

When the device makes contact with the asteroid, there are two possible scenarios.

“We would then detonate the device and either deflect the asteroid, keeping it intact but providing a controlled push away from Earth, or we could disrupt the asteroid, breaking it up into small, fast-moving fragments that would also miss the planet,” Burkey noted.

Sophisticated multiphysics simulations operated by the LLNL cover a wide array of factors that would help figure out if a nuclear deflection mission would be a success, she said.

If a real-life threat against Earth materializes, the modeling would help decision-makers determine how to proceed against an asteroid, LLNL’s planetary defense project lead Megan Bruck Syal said.

“While the probability of a large asteroid impact during our lifetime is low, the potential consequences could be devastating,” Bruck Syal said in a statement.

But there are risks attached to shooting a nuke onto a collision course with an asteroid.

Pieces from the blown-up asteroid could still be big enough to hurt Earth, an asteroid expert previously told the New York Times.

“If you miscalculate the energy you need to destroy it, you may make a lot of fragments,” said Dr. Patrick Michel.