Where you aim matters when deflecting an asteroid with a nuclear blast

[Mason74]

Defending Earth from an asteroid may depend on precise aim. ScienceDaily, publishing a Sandia National Laboratories release, reports on a study led by physicist Nathan Moore, published in the journal Icarus

The researchers simulated using X rays from a nuclear device to push an asteroid off course. In one simulation, the push was 3.9 millimetres per second from one direction but only 0.8 from another, almost five times different

For another asteroid, the change in spin varied by a factor of 17 depending on the direction of the X rays. The new algorithm is more than 1,600 times faster than earlier methods

Moore said they expected aim to matter but were surprised by how much, adding that picking the right side means you win. These are simulations only, the model covers surface rock breaking away rather than the whole asteroid breaking up, and it needs accurate shape data that might not be available for an asteroid discovered late

Planetary defence is one of those topics everyone hopes never becomes urgent, but research like this means we would be better prepared. Knowing that aim can change the result fivefold is a vital insight. NASA's DART mission showed deflection works, so refining the options makes sense

How worried should we be about asteroid impacts? And should planetary defence get more funding?

A nuclear blast could save Earth from an asteroid, but there's a catchwww.sciencedaily.com