Scientists from Nasa have conducted a study to design a conceptual spacecraft to blow up asteroids that could destroy Earth.
US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists also collaborated with Nasa on the study.
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The study also examined the ability of the spacecraft to nudge the 101955 Bennu asteroid.
The Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response vehicle (HAMMER) spacecraft will be 9m-tall and weigh 8.8t.
It has a modular design to enable it to act either as a kinetic impactor, essentially a battering ram, or as a transport vehicle for a nuclear device.
The spacecraft could be used to deflect 101955 Bennu, which has a possibility to hit Earth in September 2135. It would have an impact equivalent to 1,200t, which is 80,000 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb.
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By GlobalDataWeighing approximately 79 billion kilograms with a 500m diameter, the asteroid is currently moving around the sun at more than 63,000mph.
LLNL physicist and the study paper coauthor Kirsten Howley said: “The chance of an impact appears slim now, but the consequences would be dire.
“This study aims to help us shorten the response timeline when we do see a clear and present danger so we can have more options to deflect it. The ultimate goal is to be ready to protect life on Earth.”
According to the researchers, it would require a minimum of 7.4 years to deliver a mission to deflect Bennu and cause a greater change in speed and trajectory of the asteroid.
Howley further added: “The push you need to give it is very small if you deflect the asteroid 50 years out.
“But that far out, you’re likely to think the percentage of being hit would be 1%. The probability of a Bennu impact may be one in 2,700 today, but that will almost certainly change, for better or worse, as we gather more data about its orbit.”
Nasa’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies has recorded the discovery of more than 2,500 near-Earth objects that are potentially as large as Bennu.
