On 27 December last year, astronomers using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid moving away from Earth. Follow-up observations have revealed that the asteroid, 2024 YR4, is on a path that might lead to a collision with our planet on 22 December 2032.
Sure. By a few minutes maybe. I won’t get into the logistics of trying to set off a controlled directional explosion on a huge rock that’s likely rotating. Keep in mind also that getting it here even a minute faster means it has to change its orbit, because Earth won’t be in the original impact zone yet.
If we had the ability to direct it away, we could also improve the odds of hitting. Can’t make it get here faster though, either way.
I mean if we had explosions on the surface directly away from us, would that not speed it up?
Sure. By a few minutes maybe. I won’t get into the logistics of trying to set off a controlled directional explosion on a huge rock that’s likely rotating. Keep in mind also that getting it here even a minute faster means it has to change its orbit, because Earth won’t be in the original impact zone yet.