Can we nuke an asteroid? And would it have some kind of benefit to us?

   

Can we nuke an asteroid? And would it have some kind of benefit to us?

If we would be the target of the asteroid, there has been introduced an idea that nuclear detonation can destroy it. The thing is that nuclear detonation might be a good and effective thing to change the course or crush the asteroid if that is done far enough from Earth. The high-yield thermonuclear device can simply turn the asteroid to the planetary fog, but that thing should do far enough from Earth, that the radioactive pollution and EMP-pulse would cause damages on Earth. 

The thing is that the small nukes like neutron bombs can turn the comet or asteroid away from their course, but the question of how effective the nuclear detonation would depend on the composition of the asteroid or comet. If the comet is formed by ice, the nuclear detonation would cause that the particle is turning to steam. But in the case of the rocky asteroid, the effect of the nuclear detonation would be less dramatic. 

The most common version of the killer asteroid is that is the nucleus of a vaporized comet. That means that the "dark comets", what is lost their ice core can cause the threat of large-scale destruction. 

One of the possibilities to use nuclear detonators is to use the bell-looking structure, where are the small nuclear detonators like neutron bombs. Those bells or hoods would connect to the surface of the asteroid, and then they can push the asteroid away from its course. The thing that causes critics in the use of nuclear explosions against killer asteroids is that thing is that somebody is thinking this thing only as an excuse to maintain the nuclear stockpile, and that is the reason, why the new methods to change the track of asteroids are under research.

The thing is that the small asteroids and comets are the most common suddenly coming threats than large asteroids. In the case of large asteroids, the energy impulses to that target can take years, because that object could be seen quite an early stage. But if the size of the asteroid is about a couple of tens to a couple of hundred meters the reaction time against it might be very short. And that means that the energy impulse to the asteroid must be quite high that it pushes it away from the track. 

 One version is just targeting the radio telescope to the incoming asteroid and then the electric arc will turn it away from its course. The idea is that when the electric arc will burn on the surface of an asteroid or comet the vaporizing material acts like a rocket engine. The problem is that, what if the asteroid is coming straight to Earth. So the answer could be that there is a could of miniature satellites near the Earth, and then those satellites would target the laser or other electromagnetic radiation to that small object. 

One of the most practical choice for nuclear explosions is simply connecting the rocket engine to the asteroid. That system might look like the moon module, which is upside down. Then the rocket engine just turns the asteroid or comet to the new track. In some other ideas the high-power lasers or microwaves for steaming the core of an asteroid or comet, and the vaporizing material would turn that thing to the new course.