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

Abstract

There are mlll1y natural disasters that humanity has 10 deal with over time. These inc/ude canhquakes, tsunamis. hurricanes, floods, asteroid strikes, and so on. Some of these disasters occur slowly enough that some advance warning is possible for affected areas. In this case. the response is to evacuate the affecled area and deal wilh the damage later. The Kalrina and Rita hurricane evacuations on the U.S. Gulf Coasl 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 wi II be detected with enough warning time to possibly deflect it away. Thanks to Near•Earth Object (NED) surveys, people are working towards a goal a f cataloging at least 90% of all near-£anh objects with diameters larger th an-[40 meters in the next fi fteen years. The i mportanl quest ion Ihen, is how to mitigate the threat from an asteroid or comet nucleus found to be on a coli ision course with Earth. In this paper. we briefly review some possible deflection methods, describe their good and bad points, and Ihen embark on a more detailed description of using Ilucl.:ar munitions in a standoff modt: 10 denect the asteroid or comt:1 nucleus hefore it can hit Earth.