Summary

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers are developing three-dimensional simulations to examine how a nuclear device could be used to deflect or potentially disrupt an asteroid threatening Earth. The work, published recently in The Planetary Science Journal , uses LLNL's Spheral simulation code to more accurately model how an asteroid might respond when X-rays from a nuclear device detonated near its surface rapidly heat and vaporize material. After validating the approach against established asteroid-deflection models, researchers used Spheral to study three complex disruption scenarios.

AI summaries can be wrong sometimes—always verify important details using the source article.