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Why Nuking a asteroid that is headed for Earth is not a good strategy.

Sarah Jenkins
Sarah Jenkins
Lead Content Curator · Jan 16, 2026 · Updated Apr 13, 2026

Nuking an asteroid would be like taping an M80 to a boulder. Some postgraduate students from Leicester University did the math on the asteroid used in Armageddon (awful movie) it would take 800,000,000,000,000 terajoules of energy to blow up that chunk of rock. The largest nuke mankind ever set o…

76
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1 min
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#183
of 500 in Space & Astronomy

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The Short Answer

Nuking an asteroid would be like taping an M80 to a boulder. Some postgraduate students from Leicester University did the math on the asteroid used in Armageddon (awful movie) it would take 800,000,000,000,000 terajoules of energy to blow up that chunk of rock. The largest nuke mankind ever set off only put out 418,000 terajoules of force. To nuke a large asteroid to the point of blowing it up you'd need 1.9 BILLION of the worlds biggest nukes. _URL_0_

Analysis

Key Concepts: Asteroid, terajoules, nuke

This explanation focuses on asteroid, terajoules, nuke and spans 76 words across 5 sentences. The depth is typical for Space & Astronomy questions (category average: 68 words), striking a balance between accessibility and completeness.

What This Answer Covers

The explanation opens with: “Nuking an asteroid would be like taping an M80 to a boulder.” It then elaboratesultimately building toward a complete picture across 5 connected points.

How This Compares in Space & Astronomy

Ranked #183 of 500 Space & Astronomy questions by answer depth (top 37%). This falls in the detailed tier — above average depth. The explanation goes beyond surface-level but keeps things accessible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a simple explanation for why why nuking a asteroid that is headed for earth is not a good strategy.?

Nuking an asteroid would be like taping an M80 to a boulder. Some postgraduate students from Leicester University did the math on the asteroid used in Armageddon (awful movie) it would take 800,000,000,000,000 terajoules of energy to blow up that…

How detailed is this explanation compared to similar Space & Astronomy questions?

This is an above-average answer at 76 words, ranked #183 of 500 Space & Astronomy questions by depth. The key concepts covered are asteroid, terajoules, nuke.

What approach does this answer take to explain why nuking a asteroid that is headed for earth is not a good?

The explanation uses direct explanation across 76 words. It is categorized under Space & Astronomy and addresses the question through 1 analytical lens.