The asteroid 2024 YR4 is heading right for us, or at least right for our moon, (or at least maybe right for our moon).
2024 YR4 has a measly 4% chance of striking our moon in 2032, which isn't a lot, but it's not negligible either. The asteroid would leave a crater about 1 km wide and launch 100,000,000 kg of rock into space.
That debris is what has NASA scientists super worried, because that much gravel traveling that fast is problematic for our satellites.
That's why, according to the Independent, some astronomers, including a few from NASA, want to strap nuclear bombs to space ships and go asteroid hunting.
The space rock could weigh anywhere from 72.7 million to 2 billion pounds, and a mission to blow it up into pieces could take anywhere from five to seven years to develop, with the next available launch window from late 2029 to late 2031.
Scientists propose sending two 100-kiloton nuclear devices to the asteroid, each about five to eight times as powerful as the nuclear bombs dropped by the US on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of WWII.
If successful, scientists are hopeful it will prove the method capable of defending earth from similar asteroids.
And because you're all wondering: Yes, I did listen to Aerosmith while writing this article.
P.S. Now check out our latest video, featuring Kirk Cameron 👇
