Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed a new tool to model how blowing up a nuclear weapon might stop an asteroid from slamming into Earth.
Published in December in the Planetary Science Journal, the Livermore research introduces a new way of digitally simulating the energy deposition from a nuclear device on an asteroid’s surface, the lab said in a statement.
This model builds on NASA’s recent Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, during which in September 2022, a spacecraft was purposefully crashed into an asteroid to attempt to alter its trajectory. But for larger space debris, the size of “kinetic impactors” that can be launched into space is limited, Livermore said.
Therefore, scientists continue to explore nuclear deflection as a viable alternative to defend the planet for potential asteroid impacts.
Livermore physicist Mary Burkey, who led the research, said the high energy density and relatively small size of nuclear weapons make them a viable tool for deflecting asteroids on a collision course with Earth.
“If we have enough warning time, we could potentially launch a nuclear device, sending it millions of miles away to an asteroid that is headed toward Earth,” Burkey said. “We would then detonate the device and either deflect the asteroid, keeping it intact but providing a controlled push away from Earth, or we could disrupt the asteroid, breaking it up into small, fast-moving fragments that would also miss the planet.”
Accurate predictions for the effectiveness of nuclear deflection missions rely on sophisticated physics simulations, Burkey said.
The planetary defense group at LLNL works on a variety of projects in collaboration with research institutions, including Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office, NASA Goddard, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Ames and the U.S. Geological Survey.
