The technology that can cause Armageddon can also prevent it.
A study by scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States and Johns Hopkins University reveals that nuclear bombs may be the last line of defense on Earth from asteroids.
Until recently, it was thought that bombarding space objects with atomic or hydrogen bombs would have no effect. According to NASA experts, the best option to divert an asteroid from a collision with Earth is to crash a kinetic probe into it while the object is hundreds of thousands of kilometers from our planet.
However, many of the asteroids around us have not been detected, and in some cases it may be too late to prepare and send a kinetic probe.
“The firing of an asteroid with nuclear bombs is very effective if less than a year remains before it collides with the Earth. The object will not deviate, but will shatter, which will change the characteristics of the impact and can significantly reduce the force and damage from him, “said Patrick King of Johns Hopkins University.
“It is possible that the force of the impact will be reduced by 99.9% if the asteroid is well shattered by a nuclear bomb,” the scientist added.
The scientists used data and supercomputers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States to model a 1-megaton charge of a 100-meter object.
To be successful, the strategy needs specific calculations. Hitting the wrong place and at the wrong time can halve the asteroid, which could potentially make it even more dangerous.
However, scientists note that nuclear weapons, which we are accustomed to associate with the destruction of humanity, can also be used to save humanity.
