A group of scientists are developing 3D models to see how a nuclear bomb could save the Earth from the impact of an asteroid.
Using high-fidelity simulations, scientists reported in a study published earlier this month that a stealth asteroid, up to 330 feet long, could be annihilated by a one-megaton nuclear device, leaving 99.9% of its mass outside the way of the Earth, according to the newspaper The New York Times.
This if the asteroid is intercepted at least two months before impact.
Ideally, asteroids should be identified decades in advance
.
That way, an unmanned spacecraft would collide with them with enough momentum to knock them away from their direction to Earth.
NASA estimates that there are about 17,000 near-Earth asteroids of 460 feet or more that have yet to be found.Juan Gartner / Getty Images
This strategy, known as deviation, will have its first test next year with NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) space mission, according to the aforementioned newspaper.
Simulations, for now, showed that when the detonation occurred two months or more before the expected date of impact, it
was enough to guarantee that almost all the fragments of the asteroid that survived the explosion did not reach Earth
.
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Deflection, however, is not a foolproof strategy, especially if it is an asteroid that is several years away from Earth.
By this time it may be too late to change your trajectory with a push.
In addition, there is a risk that the asteroid will break into smaller pieces, but large enough to hit and cause catastrophic damage at multiple points on Earth.
Miniature threats
Astronomers are specifically concerned about the proximity of these relatively small asteroids, the size of a football stadium
, which stand out for their abundance and their ability to evade asteroid hunting observatories, according to the aforementioned newspaper.
"These are the ones that worry us the most because they can come out of nowhere," said Megan Bruck Syal, a planetary defense researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
An asteroid of this size may not seem like much of a danger compared to the 10-kilometer colossus that crashed into the planet 66 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs
and three-quarters of all life on Earth.
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NASA estimates that there are 17,000 near-Earth asteroids 460 feet or more that have yet to be found and are difficult to detect.
To reduce the chances of the impact of these asteroids, NASA plans to develop a space telescope capable of detecting two-thirds of these "miniature threats."
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Its operation will be a relief
to planetary defense officers.