If a meteor was coming towards earth, would we be able to blow it up?

Question

I heard in the next couple of years a meteor is supposed to come towards earth. but i have also heard that we would be able to destory it before it hit the earth's atmosphere if this happened? could we?... and what would we use?!

Answer 1

Attempting to blow up a meteor would be pointless.  First of all, it would have to be a pretty small meteor.  Even if it was small enough to blow up, we'd then have to deal with the possibility of being bombarded with many smaller meteors.

I think the actual theory is for us to try and deflect the course of a meteor if it were heading for collision with the Earth.  We would do this using nuclear bombs guided by rockets.  However, it is doubtful that we would be able to deflect the meteor enough to avoid the collision.

It is said that it would only take a meteor one mile in diameter crashing into the ocean to wipe out all life on our planet!  A meteor one mile in diameter is so small, that we would not be able to detect it coming before it was too late.

Answer 2

"if this happened? could we?"

No,  Also, If you blow it up you may get 10,000 little asteroids coming at us.

Answer 3

Us being able to blow up a meteor that is large enough to destroy all known life (five miles or larger) is a myth. Even if we did where would all the parts or remains of such a rock go to? Right here at the earth right? Either way we lose. All that stopping a meteor stuff is science fiction. As the Oracle in the movie, The Matrix said: "Sorry to give you the bad news Neo but you must make a choice." In this case the choice is for you to make is to stay in a pretend world that says we can do such a thing and destroy the meteor or live in the real world that says we will all die. Poor Neo, his choices were always so hard.

Edit update: Let me make clear that a nuclear bomb will not stop or detour a 5-10 mile in size rock coming towards earth. Uncle Sam is just trying to make us feel good by saying that it might work but it won't. Sorry for the bad news Neo.

Answer 4

I was watching MegaDisasters on the History Channel and they had an entire show about what would happen if asteroids or comets hit Earth.  They said that blowing the asteroid/comet would be risky, as it could break up into smaller pieces and bombard the earth many times if it was large enough. They don't really know when a large enough object would hit the earth, but they are trying to figure out defensive plans to use. The Earth is constantly hit with objects-- about 1000 tons yearly. Almost all of them burn up in the atmosphere and fall harmlessly onto Earth, but we really never know when a huge asteroid or comet is going to hit us.

Answer 5

Actually, many "experts" say if we blew it up, the pieces would lump back together and it would do no good. They say the best thing would be to nudge it away from earth.