Planetary Defense: Nuclear Explosion Can Disrupt Hazardous Asteroid To Protect the Earth

Lawrence Livermore Labs simulated popping off a 1 megaton nuke *above* the surface of a 100-meter asteroid. Low and behold, it blows the asteroid into flinders, an expanding cloud of bits. If done two months prior to an impact with Earth, 99.9% of the mass of the asteroid *misses* the Earth. And the thing is: even if it all still hit, from a certain point of view you’d rather have it blown apart into a bajillion tiny rocks than one big one. Yes, every satellite and spacecraft on that side of the planet is now likely in a  world of hurt… but if your 100 meter rock is turned into gravel, ain’t none of that getting down to the ground as anything that could cause any real damage.

It’s easier to replace a sky full of comsats than a city or a country.