Why is nuking hazardous asteroids not a viable option? I’d rather be hit by smaller pebbles instead of an actual rock

Question

Thanks everyone for answering

In: 9

Answer 1

To be honest I think it is less about the asteroid and more about getting it to the asteroid. Rockets explode on the launch pad and during launch quite often and nuclear dust in the atmosphere is very bad.

In space you do not need a huge amount of energy, all at once to move something, so for redirecting asteroids there are better options that do not have the risk of evaporating your launch facilities and poisoning the air.