How would NASA protect Earth if an asteroid was going to crash on it?

NASA has tracked a huge number of potentially dangerous asteroids that could have hit Earth over the last few decades. Though none of them hit the Earth, it’s not likely to stay that way. So, what if an asteroid was actually gpoing to hit Earth? How would space agencies like NASA save Earth? There are so many questions that you must be wondering about. Well, then, know that space agencies across the globe are working on developing new techniques that could detect a potentially dangerous asteroid much before it could hit Earth. NASA has developed the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) that could calculate the probability of asteroids’ impact on the Earth within a period of about 100 years.

NASA is also working on a technique that could generate a force equivalent to 3 tons of TNT to displace the trajectory of an asteroid to reduce the probability of its impact on the Earth. It should be noted that millions of years ago, when an asteroid did hit Earth, dinosaurs became extinct.

Here are the key elements listed by Gearrice that could protect Earth before the catastrophe can repeat itself.

According to the report, the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), has outlined various lines of action if a potentially dangerous object comes closer to Earth. Nearly 90% of asteroids that are 1 kilometer or larger in size can be tracked by NASA and are not potentially dangerous. However, in September, the US space agency will make an attempt to move an asteroid with a size of 161 meters from the trajectory. But it’s yet to be confirmed to what extent it is feasible to carry out this type of activity.

The other option that could be considered is conducting a nuclear attack. As shared by the Slash Gear portal, the launch of a nuclear warhead of one megaton of power could destroy up to 99% of the mass of an asteroid with a size of 100 meters.