If dinosaurs had NASA, they would still be here today. That’s the bold statement of Neil deGrasse Tyson, who’s probably everybody’s favorite astrophysicist. Tyson was invited to share his thoughts on the recent and already famous DART mission of NASA, one that consisted of hitting the Dimorphos asteroid to change its course.
NASA made the big announcement that everybody was waiting for: the DART mission has proven to be successful. After the collision itself, astronomers still needed some time to figure out if the asteroid’s course had been altered or not. It seems that the time needed has passed, and humanity can now safely assume that it has a chance to deal with a ‘Chicxulub 2.0’ asteroid.
Deflecting the asteroid is a better idea than blowing it up
Neil deGrasse Tyson also explains why nudging an asteroid is a better idea than simply blow it to bits. That’s because figuring out where the remaining pieces of the asteroid end up might become a serious problem. Instead, moving the asteroid out of the way is a lot more efficient as you get rid of the threat for good. If the space rock would still threaten you one day, astronomers might just continue to deflect it.
The presenter reminded of the Armageddon blockbuster from 1998, which had Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck in the main roles. That movie’s plot had a big asteroid threatening to destroy all life on Earth in a matter of weeks. Instead of deflecting it, the “astronauts” from the movie, who were actually oil drillers, had to get a nuclear bomb in the interior of the asteroid to blow it up. Apart from being a great sci-fi movie, everybody has to admit that t wasn’t very scientific. Unfortunately or not, Neil deGrasse Tyson doesn’t seem too impressed by the scenario from the Armageddon movie.
