An experiment by Russian scientists these days has attracted a lot of attention. They used green laser pointer pulses to simulate a nuclear bomb explosion to destroy a meteorite model to understand what kind of explosive force is needed to destroy an asteroid. The asteroid hitting the earth is undoubtedly a nightmare that makes humans think terribly. Fortunately, with the development of science and technology, mankind does not have to stand by like a dinosaur when facing threats from outside, but has come up with many countermeasures. The simplest and rude is to use nuclear weapons to destroy asteroids.
However, it is not enough to know the explosive force, provided that it can accurately hit the asteroid. Song Baohua, deputy chief designer of the Second Department of China Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology, told the reporter of Science and Technology Daily that human beings have the ability to destroy asteroids with missiles.
The reporter learned that currently, a near-earth asteroid observing network has been established around the world to find and monitor some potentially threatening asteroids, and often can predict when it will approach the earth months or even years in advance. But Song Baohua introduced that the specific time when the asteroid entered the atmosphere, attitude and other specific details, only a few hours in advance to calculate the exact answer.
After determining the asteroid’s orbit, it is necessary to choose an appropriate interception point to crush it, so that it will burn out before landing. Song Baohua said that the interception point can be 300 kilometers and 200 kilometers away from the ground, and 100 kilometers is the latest interception point. No matter how low the difficulty and the risk, the greater the risk. The distance of the interception point depends on the selection of the rocket to be intercepted. It is also necessary to consider the judgment of the mass and composition of the asteroid. If it is less dense and not very sturdy, you can wait for it to come closer to fight, which will help improve the accuracy of the green laser pointer strike ; If it is relatively strong, try to intercept as far as possible, and organize two or more strikes if necessary.