(ORDO NEWS) — The plan for a nuclear strike on an approaching asteroid as the last attempt to save the planet has long been born in the minds of both real experts and filmmakers. But many scientists have argued that this will not work, so we have to come up with something else.
However, new research suggests that these skeptics may be wrong because computer simulations show that a last-minute nuclear strike does have a good chance of saving Earth . This is good news as it takes years, perhaps even decades, to develop viable alternative strategies.
Destruction of an asteroid
Previous research and simulations have shown that for a nuclear strike to work, an approaching asteroid must be hit decades before it hits Earth. Otherwise, the fragments will continue on their way to the planet, which means that one catastrophic collision will turn into countless less catastrophic collisions.
Striking an asteroid just months before a “date” with Earth will prevent almost all of the debris from hitting us, according to new research published in the journal Acta Astronautica.
“Simply put, if for a 100-meter object that is predicted to hit the Earth, we apply nuclear destruction at least a month before the collision, then we can prevent 99 percent or more of the impact mass from reaching Earth,” the physicist said. and study author at Johns Hopkins University Patrick King.
Based on King’s work, if we can strike a 100-meter asteroid a month before colliding with the Earth, then in the case of a larger asteroid, we should start acting earlier. Nonetheless, this study is a glimmer of hope in case we find the “killer asteroid” later than we would like.
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