A really good idea. If we blast it apart the center of mass will remain on the collision trajectory. Smaller pieces may burn up in the atmosphere more readily than a larger object.

A lot of a possible defense is determining what the composition is, as they pointed out in the article. It can be anything from loose gravel and ice, to an iron/nickle juggernaut. And of course, size matters.....

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Sadly, I think we will have to suffer a nasty hit before any real progress is made to protect the earth from big rocks falling from the sky. Maybe we will get lucky and a NEO will collide with the moon creating a big light show and wake up those who control the purse strings.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

You're probably right about that, Bob. A NEOShield sounds like a more than worthwhile endeavor, but I don't think it will happen. Not any time soon.

Even though recent events have occured:

1993's Shoemaker-Levy 9 was all the convincing I'll ever need!

Also, there is the 12th century event witnessed by Monks which was likely an object colliding with the moon. That is less than 1K years ago, which is less than an eye-blink in cosmological time.


Lt