Scientists use CERN proton beam to assess nuclear asteroid deflection

NASA’s 2022 DART mission successfully demonstrated that a spacecraft impact could alter an asteroid’s trajectory, offering a promising planetary defense method preferred over nuclear deflection. Nuclear deflection, which involves detonating a nuclear device near an asteroid, carries risks such as fragmenting the asteroid into multiple hazardous pieces. Despite being a last-resort option, its effectiveness and consequences depend heavily on the asteroid’s material composition. A recent study by scientists at CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), published in Nature Communications, investigated how asteroid materials respond to nuclear-like explosions. Using the SPS’s 440 GeV proton beam at the HiRadMat facility, the team simulated nuclear blast effects on a metal-rich meteorite sample from Campo del Cielo. Their experiments revealed that such materials could become stronger and exhibit self-stabilizing behavior under intense energy pulses, suggesting that larger nuclear devices might be used without catastrophically fragmenting the asteroid. This finding supports the viability of nuclear deflection as an emergency