Nevertheless, we need to try to tackle these challenges if we want to assess disruption as a possible strategy.”
As King continues, “We focused on studying ‘late’ disruptions, meaning that the impacting body is broken apart shortly before it impacts.
Now, 23 years later, it looks like scientists believe that the movie’s strategy for dealing with the huge asteroid is actually a viable strategy for dealing with such an event.
When you have plenty of time – typically decade-long timescales – it is generally preferred that kinetic impactors are used to deflect the impacting body.”