The studies are being conducted by computer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in northern California, and according to these scientists, our answer is a nuclear bomb.
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How to avoid a disaster, like in the science fiction film Armageddon, with Bruce Willis? Simulations are carried out in a California laboratory by the team of researcher Mary Burkey. They designed a model to determine what exactly would happen if humanity decided to blow up an asteroid that got a little too close to our planet. The study was published in the Planetary Science JournalDecember 19, 2023.
If humans have enough time to prepare, Mary Burkey says, we could consider sending a nuclear bomb millions of miles away with the power needed to blow up the asteroid or at least change its direction. This is obviously a much more complex problem than what a big Hollywood production offers. There are numerous parameters to take into account and possible scenarios. The Lawrence Livermore laboratory model allows many to be considered to help managers make rapid decisions if the threat one day arises.
NASA has already deflected an asteroid in 2022
The results of the study are just conclusive enough to open the door to further, more in-depth work on a larger scale. But computer simulations for this type of research require significant computing power and time. And even though an asteroid can be huge, the effect of a nuclear device must be predicted with great precision. Fragments could still reach Earth and cause significant damage. And for once, a space shuttle which lands on the asteroid so that drilling specialists dig into the rock to drop a nuclear bomb, as in Armageddondoes not seem to be a scenario envisaged.
On the night of September 26 to 27, the NASA test mission called Dart, French for Dual Asteroid Direction Test, succeeded in deflecting an asteroid by sending a satellite in its direction like a dart. But sending a craft large enough to deflect a large asteroid into space is a challenge in itself. Humans have not yet invented a technology that has a higher energy density per unit mass than nuclear power, Mary Burkey insists. The researchers stress that the risk of seeing an asteroid large enough to destroy the planet in the coming years is extremely low, but the potential devastation of such a catastrophe justifies looking into the question.
