NEOShield Program Considers Nuking Asteroids Destined For Earth

A program called NEOShield tasked Russian space researchers with developing a plan to handle any big asteroid that may one day position itself towards Earth, and that plan involves a nuke. The program was funded by the European Commission, and is only one of many initiatives underway to create plans for dealing with near-Earth objects (NEOs). NASA has been working on its own projects, and many ideas have been proposed.

According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos' Central Scientific Research Institute of Machine Building, work under this program was "distributed among various participants from different countries and organizations." For its part, Roscosmos was tasked with developing a plan to deflect NEOs using nukes.

A large enough asteroid could wipe out human life should the object collide with Earth. For that reason, the Russian researchers posit human governments would likely be okay temporarily shelving the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which bars the use of nuclear weapons in space. The treaty, after all, would die along with humanity in such a scenario.

If it came down to it, the researchers believe an asteroid could have its course changed via a nuclear detonation made nearby in deep space. The blast wouldn't necessarily destroy the asteroid, but would rather knock it into a different path, hopefully one that doesn't involve slamming into Earth. Nukes weren't the only solution considered under NEOShield, with things like crashing a spaceship into an asteroid to change its course, and altering the asteroid's gravity to pull it onto a different path also being considered.

Russia has also announced plans to develop asteroid-tracking software in coming years.

SOURCE: Telegraph