Challenges of Deflecting an Asteroid or Comet Nucleus with a Nuclear Burst

There are many natural disasters that humanity has to deal with over time. These include earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, asteroid strikes, and so on. Some of these disasters occur slowly enough that some advance warming is possible for affected areas. In this case, the response is to evacuate the affected area and deal with the damage later. The Katrina and Rita hurricane evacuations on the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005 demonstrated the chaos that can result from such a response. In contrast with other natural disasters, it is likely that an asteroid or comet nucleus on a collision course with Earth will be detected with enough warning time to possibly deflect it away. Thanks to Near-Earth Object (NEO) surveys, people are working towards a goal of cataloging at least 90% of all near-Earth objects with diameters larger than ∼140 meters in the next fifteen years. The important question then, is how to mitigate the threat from an asteroid or comet nucleus found to be on a collision course with Earth. In this paper, we briefly review some possible deflection methods, describe their good and bad points, and then embark on a more detailed description of using nuclear munitions in a standoff mode to deflect the asteroid or comet nucleus before it can hit Earth.

P.A. Bradley, C.S Plesko, R.R.C. Clement, L.M. Conlon, R.P. Weaver, J.A. Guzik, L.A. Pritchett-Sheats, W.F. Huebner