How to Deal with An Asteroid Threat to Earth? Use Thor's Hammer

NASA Designs HAMMER Spacecraft to Deflect or Nuke Dangerous Asteroids - ExtremeTech

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use. Humanity might not be safe even if we tackle challenges like global climate change and perpetual war. An asteroid could fall out of the sky and knock us back into the stone age, or worse, end our brief reign on this planet.

 From article, (Humanity might not be safe even if we tackle challenges like global climate change and perpetual war. An asteroid could fall out of the sky and knock us back into the stone age, or worse, end our brief reign on this planet. NASA and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are working on a new spacecraft design that could potentially deflect a dangerous asteroid before that happens. The craft is called “HAMMER,” and it does what the name implies.

HAMMER, which stands for Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response, has two modes. In its preferred mode of operation, it would act as an impactor that collides with the asteroid to gently nudge it off course, so it doesn’t hit the planet. If there’s not enough time for that, HAMMER’s other option is to detonate a nuclear weapon in order to destroy or deflect the object. That’s where the NNSA’s involvement is key.

 Each HAMMER spacecraft would weigh 8.8 tons. With a planned impact speed of 22,000 miles per hour, it could impart a lot of force. Still, one probe isn’t going to deflect even a modestly sized asteroid like Bennu. NASA suggests deploying a small fleet of HAMMER probes in the path of an Asteroid. Over the course of multiple impacts, the asteroid slows down slightly, and its orbital trajectory bends toward the sun. According to the study, this would be enough to steer Bennu away from an Earth impact.

If we don’t know about an impact years in advance, it might be impossible to alter the asteroid’s course early enough. That’s why HAMMER also has a nuclear mode. The analysis says current US nuclear weapons are sufficiently powerful to knock an object like Bennu off course. Overall efficacy won’t be clear until we get a closer look at Bennu’s makeup. OSIRIS-REx will deliver a sample to Earth in 2023.)

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