WASHINGTON: In a demonstration of fact borrowing from fiction, NASA and the US National Nuclear Security Administration are studying the possibility of destroying Earth-threatening asteroids using nuclear weapons.
In 2013, a 60-foot-wide meteor exploded over Russia, and no one saw it coming. The Chelyabinsk impactor was relatively small by interplanetary standards, but the blast injured about 1,500 people and damaged 7,000 buildings.
If a larger rock were headed for Earth, how would we defend ourselves? The short answer is, scientists aren’t really sure, but one solution sounds a lot like the plot from a 1998 Michael Bay movie: just nuke ‘em.
Using a combination of an intercept vehicle and a suicide bomber craft, the plan consists of first creating a crater on the rock and then within seconds ramming into it with nuclear explosives.
All this will happen in deep space, apparently far away from the planet.
