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Loading contentDetonating a nuclear device near an asteroid — not to blow it apart, but to vaporise a layer of its surface, the escaping material shoving it onto a new course. Studied only as a last resort for the largest objects or the shortest warning times; it has never been tested and remains theoretical.
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
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