NASA considers utilizing nuclear weapons towards moon-bound asteroid

The Apollo-class asteroid 2024 YR4 continues to occupy scientists. Now that it has turned out that it’s going to simply miss the Earth, one other hazard has reared its head: a potential collision course with the moon.

In line with the newest calculations, the likelihood of impression is round 4 p.c. The impression might happen in December 2032.

NASA examines defensive measures

Ought to 2024 YR4 really hit the moon, it might hurl giant portions of rock into Earth’s orbit. For these of us on Earth, we’d primarily see it as a spectacular meteor bathe—however the flying particles would pose an actual hazard to satellites and the crew aboard the ISS.

NASA is at the moment investigating methods to forestall such an impression, with two predominant potential methods: deflecting the asteroid or destroying it.

To be able to deflect it, the precise mass of the 60-meter-wide asteroid would must be discovered. Because it might range vastly—from tens of 1000’s to a number of million tons—a reconnaissance mission can be required. Nonetheless, NASA must act quick because the window of alternative for such a mission would shut as early as 2028.

The second possibility can be destruction of the asteroid utilizing nuclear weapons. In line with NASA’s calculations, a one-megaton nuclear bomb can be enough to interrupt the asteroid into smaller, much less harmful items—no matter its composition. For comparability’s sake, that’d be round 80 instances the explosive energy of the Hiroshima bomb however nonetheless considerably lower than the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba, essentially the most highly effective nuclear weapon ever examined.

Nonetheless, consultants warn that nuclear explosions in area harbor appreciable dangers. The “Starfish Prime” high-altitude nuclear check in 1962 brought on huge disruption to electronics and satellites. The results of a near-moon detonation can hardly be predicted proper now.

A choice to return in 2028 on the earliest

Whether or not 2024 YR4 will really hit the moon can’t be decided with extra precision for a minimum of just a few extra years. Till then, NASA will proceed to seek for options that may safely avert disaster. Nonetheless, with the 2032 deadline looming forward, NASA should be fast on its toes to show any technique into actuality.