Scientists use CERN proton beam to assess nuclear asteroid deflection

NASA’s DART mission successfully demonstrated that a spacecraft impact can alter an asteroid’s trajectory, providing a preferred planetary defense method over nuclear deflection, which risks fragmenting the asteroid into hazardous smaller pieces. However, nuclear deflection remains a last-resort option for large or short-warning asteroids. To better understand this method’s viability, a team at CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) conducted experiments simulating nuclear blasts on asteroid materials using high-energy proton beams. The CERN team, collaborating with the University of Oxford, fired intense proton pulses at a sample of the Campo del Cielo meteorite to mimic nuclear explosion effects without detonating an actual bomb. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, revealed that metal-rich asteroid material can become stronger and exhibit self-stabilizing behavior under such conditions. This suggests that larger nuclear devices than previously assumed could be used to deflect asteroids without causing catastrophic fragmentation, preserving nuclear deflection as a credible emergency option when non-nuclear methods are