if theres an asteroid 10 kilometer wide how can we stop it despite its enormous size????

Question

no modern technology can stop such an enormous asteroid could a 100 megaton nuke be powerful enough to change its course??????

Answer 1

A 100 MT nuke would not stop something that big. You would need to alter it's path over time. We're talking a few years to change it's path so you would need a lot of time to plan and prepare for it. At least 10 years before it hit.

Answer 2

No, a nuke that big could not stop an asteroid that size. We would have to have warning years in advance. Personally I think the best way to stop an asteroid, would be to slow it down by planting rockets on it's surface. Once it slowed enough (which would take years), The asteroid would literally aerobrake around Earth and become another natural satellite. This would only be possible with an advance warning of at least 5 years......though humans have shown the amazing capability of keeping themselves alive against all odds.

Answer 3

A nuke would not work. The most probable method is to deploy a satelite to go into orbit around the ateroid. If far enough away, the gravity from the satelite will alter the course of the asteroid just enough to miss earth.

We are in trouble if we can't spot them far out.

Answer 4

The idea is that if you give it a small nudge 20 years in advance, then it will change course enough to miss Earth 20 years later. The more years in advance you start pushing it, the less push you need to change the course enough to make it miss. The idea that you could push it out of the way with a few weeks notice is just science fiction. We don't have that kind of power.

Answer 5

Even we can not stop an astroid of few meter in size; there are several ways suggested ot stop astroids; like collide a rocket (with full of nukes) on astroid; but the possibility that it would break & become more dangerous.So the best way to pray the god to change the astroid path

Answer 6

Well ,such a big asteroid can only be stopped by a nuclear explosion done by man,if NASA can dare.It can also be stopped if it enters the gravity of another planets and gets trapped there.It can't be stopped by the atmosphere of earth.

Answer 7

The energy required to cause a diversion would depend on the distance from earth at the time of the event. A small shift in angle maybe provided by a relatively low energy device available today if at sufficient distance.

Answer 8

If you knew about it soon enough, you only need to change it's velocity by a few cm per second. You could do that with something like a solar sail