Hypervelocity nuclear interceptors for asteroid disruption

A direct intercept mission with nuclear explosives is the only practical mitigation option against the most probable impact threat of near-Earth objects (NEOs) with warning times much shorter than 10 years. However, state-of-the-art penetrating subsurface nuclear explosion technology limits the penetrator's impact velocity to less than approximately 300 m/s because higher impact velocities prematurely destroy the nuclear fusing mechanisms. Therefore, significant advances in hypervelocity nuclear interceptor/penetrator technology are required to enable a last-minute nuclear disruption mission with intercept velocities as high as 30 km/s. This paper briefly describes both the current and planned research activities at the Iowa State Asteroid Deflection Research Center for developing such a game-changing space technology to mitigate the most probable impact threat of NEOs with a short warning time.

► The most probable impact threat of near-Earth objects (NEOs) with warning times much shorter than 10 years is considered. ► A direct intercept mission concept with nuclear explosives is proposed. ► Significant advances in hypervelocity nuclear interceptor/penetrator technology are required.