A precise detonation of a nuclear bomb on an incoming chunk of space rock may be our best hope of averting a catastrophic impact.
Experiments conducted by an international team of researchers have shown that X-rays from a suitably sized atomic bomb could deflect an asteroid about 3-5 kilometers (about 2-3 miles) wide from its course.
There is no evidence that a doomsday device is urgently needed, but the consequences of a surprise attack by a dangerous near-Earth object are asteroid These are not trivial things, so it’s important to have a game plan in place to ensure you save a life.
NASA recently demonstrated that if a heavy spacecraft slammed into a relatively small chunk of rock with enough force, it could avoid colliding with Earth.
Just under half a mile in diameter, it is made of loosely bound gravel and rock and is the smaller of the two. Dimorphos and Didymos The system moved large enough in orbit that astrophysicists believed it was possible to use directed collisions to coax similarly sized objects into less hazardous orbits.
While the results are promising, it’s clear that more data is needed before we start hurling chunks of metal at old asteroids in the hopes of averting disaster. Bigger, harder rocks might be a whole different story.
Luckily, there’s more than one way to kick a mountain into the sky. Powerful fusion engine For example, it might work, Uses a focused laser Scraping the surface of an asteroid to create a rocket effect.
A more feasible approach would be to heat up a small part of the asteroid’s surface with an intense glow of radiation, creating a rocket effect that would vaporize minerals so violently that, in theory, the escaping gases could push the mass far enough to change its orbit.
The basic principle of rock vaporization by electromagnetic radiation can be tested and fine-tuned to suit a wide range of materials and mineral structures on Earth.
The researchers, led by physicist Nathan Moore of Sandia National Laboratories in the United States, Z Pulsed Power Facility It squeezes 1.5 megajoules of X-rays out of a tank of argon gas.
This radiation “bubble” obliterated a thin metal foil carrying suspended particles of fused silica (also known as fused silica glass), leaving the sample in free fall long enough to look like a tiny asteroid drifting in space.
A fraction of a second later, an X-ray pulse struck the target, stripping a few micrometres of material from its surface and creating a shock wave that provided vital data.
This could potentially be used to predict the effects of fairly large X-ray bursts in the interplanetary vacuum – in fact, the resulting momentum transfer suggests that even asteroids as small as 5 kilometers in diameter could potentially be transported using this approach.
“More detailed models, such as the radiation hydrodynamic model presented here and those presented in other studies, can be tested against experimental data obtained with this technique and used to improve predictions for a variety of asteroid interceptor missions,” the team said. It is pointed out in the report.
Of course, asteroids are often made of a mixture of volatile materials deposited in different ways, not just molten silica, and the same approach could be used to test each potential scenario without having to launch expensive missions or wait years to analyze the results.
Ideally, it’s knowledge we’ll never need. Although several city-destroying asteroids have been predicted to come within a short distance of Earth in space, nothing on the maps is predicted to hit anytime soon.
Still, nobody likes surprises, and when a bullet comes flying out of the darkness with our name on it, we better know exactly how to burn it to oblivion.
This study Natural Physics.
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