Asteroid collisions with earth have always intrigued science-fiction fans. NASA is now doing ground breaking revelations on the options available for planetary defence. A planetary astronomer, Dr Andy Rivkin said ”some strategies seem very sci-fi,like turning the asteroid as a whole into a spaceship by strapping rocket engines in it and steering it away. But it’s a tricky work.” He also added that ”asteroids have different rotation speeds, their north poles point in various directions, so if you put a rocket on the surface, the rocket is going to rotate with the asteroid. So we need to fire the rocket at certain times, when it’s pointing the right way, or you have to figure out a way to change the spin of the asteroid so that the rocket can always work.”
He further revealed a more futuristic option for planetary defence which involves the powerful lasers to gradually melt the asteroid.
