Asteroid collisions with Earth are surprisingly common, with NASA estimating 48.5 tonnes of meteoric material entering our atmosphere daily. Most burn up, producing shooting stars. Although devastating asteroid impacts are rare in Earth’s history, humanity has learned a crucial lesson from the catastrophic event 66 million years ago. The asteroid responsible for the dinosaurs’ extinction was approximately six miles wide, but significantly smaller objects still pose a significant threat. In the face of potentially catastrophic asteroid impacts, scientists are racing to develop innovative solutions to protect our planet. 

In New Mexico, scientists are exploring a futuristic solution to defend Earth against asteroid threats: harnessing X-ray blasts from nuclear explosions, the Guardian reported. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque have successfully demonstrated a revolutionary method to deflect incoming asteroids using nuclear explosions. For the experiment, researchers harnessed the power of X-rays from a nuclear blast to vaporise the surface of a nearby asteroid.

The process works by unleashing an immense pulse of radiation, heating the asteroid’s surface to tens of thousands of degrees. This creates a rapidly expanding ball of gas that can nudge the asteroid off its catastrophic course. By precisely calculating the blast’s impact, scientists believe this technique can effectively push threatening asteroids away from Earth, potentially saving humanity from doomsday. 

“The primary mechanism involves using X-rays to rapidly heat the target surface, causing it to vaporize and expand into the adjacent vacuum. The expanding gas pushes against the asteroid, transferring momentum (in the opposite direction),” authors of the study published Monday in the journal Nature Physics wrote. 

Scientists noted that the nuclear option is for larger asteroids, particularly when time is short. Researchers believe this strategy can effectively deflect asteroids up to 2.5 miles wide, although this isn’t a rigid limit.

“If there is enough warning time, one can certainly deflect larger asteroids,”  Dr Nathan Moore, the first author of the study said. 

Mr Moore and his team plan to conduct further experimental tests to refine the X-ray deflection technique, building on their initial success. Their goal is to enhance the method’s effectiveness through additional laboratory experiments. Ultimately, they envision a space-based demonstration, similar to NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, to test the technique on a real asteroid. 

Officials at NASA confirmed today that a 120-foot asteroid, roughly the size of a small aeroplane, will make a close approach to Earth. But do not worry, as despite close proximity, the asteroid 2022 SW3 poses no threat. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory assured there was no cause for concern when it said that the asteroid “is going to come no closer than about 1.6 million miles.”

It will pass within the distance of three times that of Earth to the Moon. Although close, the scientists are swift to say that it does not threaten Earth yet. This close encounter will be an opportunity for scientists to acquire much-needed data about near-earth objects (NEOs).

The scientists track the orbits of the known asteroids, including 2022 SW3, which periodically come close to the Earth orbit. These observations are very important for the purpose of prediction and assessing danger.

Indeed, asteroids were part of the material leftovers of the old solar system, born about 4.6 billion years ago. They don’t have atmospheres and are not shaped as planets. High technology and observation can trace their paths to the smallest detail.

A few had major implications for Earth, including the one at Chicxulub that caused the demise of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

Examples include NASA’s OSIRIS-REx and Japan’s Hayabusa2. Samples obtained from missions like these have been instrumental in giving answers about the origin of our solar system and how life-preserving compounds could have landed on Earth. Every asteroid that passes adds to our chances of getting ready for other potential threats.

Today’s close flyby also becomes an eye-opener to the fact that one cannot just understand asteroids or close observations of them once and for all. Though this event is not hazardous, it will be a good time to collect data in preparation for upcoming encounters by scientists.

The space agency NASA has created a defence system to ward off the fear of these near-earth objects. According to NASA, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first planetary defence technology demonstration, successfully impacted its asteroid target in the past in an attempt to move an asteroid in space.