To assess whether this technique could actually deflect an asteroid heading toward Earth, the team fed their experimental results into computer simulations. They found that a nuclear blast emitting X-rays detonated a few kilometers from an asteroid, could deflect space rocks up to 4 kilometers wide.

Exploding a nuclear bomb above a huge asteroid could vaporize its surface using X-rays, pushing the space rock away from Earth.

Scientists in New Mexico conducted several experiments and learned that asteroids can be deflected from Earth using explosions of nuclear warheads above the space rock's surface.