A new study suggests that pulses can be used to treat X-rays To detonate huge asteroids that might collide with Earth, according to the Daily Mail.
Scientists have come up with a new way to protect Earth from a “catastrophic asteroid” by using X-ray pulses to change the path of the asteroid heading towards Earth.
This method depends on evaporating the surface of the asteroid and turning it into gas, which leads to changing the path asteroidwhich could keep it off the ground.
Experts say the technology could be used in future planetary defense missions to deflect comets and asteroids whose predicted paths come too close.
How were the experiments done?
A team from Sandy National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, used X-rays generated by a nuclear device to target two small asteroid models in a vacuum, simulating conditions found in space.
In both experiments, the researchers observed that the pulses heated the surface. Asteroidscausing a vapor cloud to change its momentum and path.
The researchers expanded these measurements to run simulations involving larger rocks.
They suggest that asteroids heading towards the earth Which has a diameter of 4 km can be deflected using this strategy.
“Asteroid impacts are among the many natural hazards facing civilization,” the researchers assert.
NASA experiments
Although most asteroids pass by Earth or cause little damage, the largest Collisions It led to regional devastation and even the elimination of habitable climates.
They pointed to a recent test conducted by the US space agency NASA, which involved using a spacecraft to hit an asteroid and change its course.
They added that although this method is effective, it is expensive and requires a lot of time and preparation.
Researchers indicate that the most famous asteroid collision is the collision of Chicxulub asteroidwhich collided with Earth 66 million years ago and led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The asteroid was 15 kilometers in diameter and hit Earth at a speed of 20 kilometers per second, causing a rim of mountains taller than the Himalayas to form around the crater and filling the sky with fine dust for 15 years.
