Asteroid/comet

[RichIsnang]

If an asteroid or a comet Were on a collision course with earth, of diameter ~300m, and we fired a hydrogen bomb at it, would it be destroyed?

And is rock harder to destroy than ice? ( I guess it is)

[Arch2008]

Yes!

The hydrogen bomb would be utterly destroyed.

The comet or asteroid on the other hand would most likely become several (radioactive) asteroids or comets.

[emilievak]

The hydrogen bomb could be used if this comet or asteroid is far enough in order to deviate it, but not to destroy it.

[Airbrush]

Yes!

The hydrogen bomb would be utterly destroyed.

The comet or asteroid on the other hand would most likely become several (radioactive) asteroids or comets.

 

Hahaha. Good answer.

 

It all depends on how long we have to react to it. We can get blind-sided any day by a Tunguska sized object that is first discovered only days before impact. If you have only days to react, best thing to do is fire massive kinetic impactors to slam into it and try to deviate it slightly. I hope they have a plan.

 

Recently I saw a TED talk by George Dyson who worked on the original project Orion. They proposed sending a giant spaceship using nuclear explosions as propulsion. It would be so heavy that it would take about 800 nukes to get it out of Earth's orbit. He said he thinks they can use that idea as a means to deliver a rocket to an asteroid in the shortest amount of time.

 

"The original Project Orion was a secret project in the late '50s and early '60s funded by ARPA, the USAF and NASA to design Nuclear Pulse powered spacecraft. They were to be propelled by nuclear explosions. The expanding plasma would impact a cushioned "pusher plate" at the rear of the spacecraft and push it forward."

 

Here is George Dyson:

 

 

Edited April 11, 2012 by Airbrush