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X-Rays From a Nuclear Explosion Could Redirect an Asteroid
Scientists have proposed a method to deflect dangerous asteroids using nuclear explosions, not by directly blowing them up, but by detonating a bomb above the surface to create an X-ray burst that vaporizes part of the asteroid and changes its course. Experiments using the Z machine at Sandia Nation...
Experiments using the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories simulated this process, showing that it could potentially redirect even large asteroids to prevent catastrophic impacts on Earth. "At present, there is only one way to generate an intense enough X-ray burst to do an experiment like this, and that's using the Z Machine," said [Nathan Moore, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M.]. "For reference, a 4-km [2.5-mile] asteroid is predicted to be large enough to cause global devastation and possible disruption of civilization, according to the NASA Planetary Defense Strategy and Action Plan," Moore said.
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