Published December 3, 1992
| public
Journal Article
Deflection and fragmentation of near-Earth asteroids
- Creators
- Ahrens, Thomas J.
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Harris, Alan W.
Abstract
The collision with Earth of near-Earth asteroids or comet nuclei poses a potential threat to mankind. Objects about 100 m in diameter could be diverted from an Earth-crossing trajectory by the impact of a rocket-launched mass, but for larger bodies nuclear explosions seem to be the only practical means of deflection. Fragmentation of the body by nuclear charges is less efficient or secure.
Additional Information
© 1992 Nature Publishing Group. T.J.A. benefited from the technical discussions held at the NASA Workshop on Near Earth Object Interception, 14-16 January, 1992. We thank R. Schmidt, K. Holsapple and J. C. Solem for their preprints. This research was supported by NASA.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 50781
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20141024-104517295
- NASA
- Created
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2014-10-24Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field