What would we do if an asteroid with enough destructive power was going to hit Earth?
On July 13, 2023, an asteroid the size of an office building passed by Earth from a quarter of the distance between the Earth and the Moon. From an astronomical point of view, this is the width of a hair, like shaving against your face. A direct hit would produce the equivalent of 1.5 million tonnes of TNT equivalent. In comparison, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima produced only 2 thousand tons of yield. The asteroid over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, was half the diameter of this.
This draws attention to the possibility of such catastrophic events, how can we save ourselves?
A team of astronomers and computer scientists simulated the scenario. The best option, they say, is to smash it, blow the asteroid to pieces and let the debris hit Earth. The resulting meteor shower is much less destructive than the collision of primitive celestial bodies.
One option to smash it is to launch a projectile at the asteroid with enough kinetic energy to smash it to pieces.
Scientists used state-of-the-art fluid dynamics modeling software to simulate collisions. Simulations show that when a projectile hits an asteroid, its kinetic energy is converted into heat, causing the projectile and surrounding material to vaporize, creating a shock wave that runs through the asteroid and causes the asteroid to disintegrate. The expanding steam pushes these pieces away. Many debris will fall on the earth like raindrops. When these fragments hit the atmosphere, they are heated, deformed, and in the air**. The energy is released in a bright flash of light that is strong enough to blind a person or cause **burns, and the energy released in the form of a shock wave can destroy buildings on the ground and break windows.
Either way, this gives hope for maximum protection of the planet in the event of an asteroid impacting it in the future.