ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Could nuclear explosions help protect Earth from destructive asteroids? That is what physicist Nathan Moore and a team of scientists are researching at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque.
“To most people, the danger from asteroids seems remote,” Moore said in a news release. “But our planet is hit by BB-sized asteroids every day. We call them shooting stars. We don’t want to wait for a large asteroid to show up and then scramble for the right method to deflect it.”
Moore and scientists created experiments using Sandia’s Z machine to monitor the deflection of synthetic asteroids subjected to powerful X-ray pulses generated by the machine. They said the goal of the research is to track the reactions of asteroids of varying compositions to deflection attempts, which would help those who respond to asteroid threats in the future.
“The trick is to use just enough force to redirect the flying rock without splitting it into several equally deadly subsections advancing toward Earth,” Moore explained.
According to NASA’s 2023 Planetary Defense Strategy and Action Plan, there are an estimated 25,000 objects larger than 140 meters in size that are capable of causing “regional devastation” if they hit Earth, and less than 50 percent have been detected and tracked.
The space agency also estimated that there are 230,000 or more objects that are equal to or larger than 50 meters that “could destroy a concentrated urban area.” The agency said that fewer than eight percent of these have been detected.
One recent notable event of destruction included the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor in Russia that NASA Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson said was a “cosmic wake-up call.”
The house-sized asteroid entered the atmosphere and blew apart 14 miles above the ground, an explosion that NASA said was equivalent to a blast involving 440,000 tons of TNT.
The explosion was so powerful that it generated a shock wave that blew out windows and damaged buildings over 200 square miles away. It also left more than 1,600 people injured, mostly due to broken glass.
That is why Moore and his team are working proactively to help protect Earth. “The day after, there would be no re-dos,” Moore said in the news release.
Another experiment to divert asteroids was conducted for the first time in 2022 when NASA launched a spacecraft into an asteroid known as Dimorphos. To learn more about the mission, click here.
