Was Bruce Willis right? Could a nuclear blast save us from killer asteroid?

Scientists simulated a nuclear explosion using x-ray pulses to push an asteroid-like rock away in space-like conditions.

It’s been almost 25 years since Bruce Willis, playing the fictional character Harry Stamper in the blockbuster movie, Armageddon, saved Earth from an asteroid careering towards the planet. In true Hollywood fashion, he did this by detonating a nuclear bomb implanted in the asteroid, preventing what scientists call a “mass extinction event”. The whole world cheered (at least in the movie).

The world might be able to cheer for real now. In a study published in Nature Physics, physicists at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, US, say they have simulated a nuclear X-ray pulse directed onto the side of an asteroid to change the trajectory of the asteroid and avoid a collision with the Earth.

In a recent experiment conducted at Sandia National Laboratories, researchers used a Z machine to generate the X-ray pulses. This is one of the world’s most powerful radiation machines that can generate magnetic fields and X-rays.

To generate the X-ray pulse, an intense electrical burst is directed at a pocket of argon gas. This triggers an implosion of the argon gas and turns it into plasma. The plasma emits a powerful surge of X-rays towards the target, effectively mimicking a nuclear detonation in space.

Scientists used an X-ray pulse inside a vacuum to simulate a nuclear explosion on the surface of an asteroid-like rock in space-like conditions. The pulse created a vapour plume which pushed the rock away.