PLANETARY DEFENSE: Scientists eye nuclear options as asteroid barrels toward moon.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 4% chance of hitting the moon in December of 2032, according to The European Space Agency.

Such a collision could have devastating consequences for satellites and astronauts in space, prompting a group of scientists to develop plans to prevent it from happening.

The asteroid made global headlines last year when it was reported to have a 3% probability of hitting Earth, but further observations led NASA to conclude that the building-sized asteroid “poses no significant impact risk to Earth in 2032 and beyond.”

A new, yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper proposes options to prevent asteroid 2024 YR4 from colliding with the moon.

One option presented in the paper is a “kinetic disruption mission” to blow up the asteroid using “nuclear explosive devices.”

We could certainly use the data.