The international scientific community has asked Russian scientists to develop a system for deflecting asteroids that can threaten the Earth using nuclear explosions in space.
This was reported by TsNIIMash, the head scientific organization of the state corporation "Roscosmos". See also TsNIIMash will create a warning center for dangerous comets and asteroids “As part of the seventh EU framework program for the development of scientific research and technology from 2012 to 2015, the international project NEOShield was carried out, in which all methods of impact on hazardous objects were studied and worked out.
The work was distributed among different participants from different countries and organizations, and the work on deflecting dangerous space objects with the help of nuclear explosions was entrusted to Russia, represented in the FSUE TsNIIMash project, - the press service of the institute said. In addition, specialists from other organizations from the rocket and space industry and the Russian Academy of Sciences have been involved in this work.
Russian scientists believe that a nuclear explosion near a dangerous asteroid is the most effective way to prevent it from colliding with the Earth, although nuclear explosions in space are now prohibited. “If, in connection with the asteroid threat, the question arises about the enormous damage or even the very existence of life on Earth, these prohibitions will naturally disappear,” the TsNIIMash noted.
The institute also stressed that it is safest to carry out a nuclear explosion in deep space, when there is enough time before the asteroid approaches the Earth. “In this case, a nuclear explosion is carried out in such a way that the asteroid is not destroyed into parts, but a part of its substance is ejected, as a result of which jet thrust is generated, which affects the change in the object's orbit.
In full measure, this change in orbit will manifest itself with the subsequent approach of the asteroid to the Earth - it will be deflected from the planet during its flight to a safe distance , - explained in TsNIIMash.