Government scientists designed the Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response (HAMMER) spacecraft, that would either steer its 8.8-ton bulk (called an “impactor”) into a small asteroid, or carry a nuclear device to deflect a big one, as reported in journal Acta Astronautica.

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Government scientists designed the Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response (HAMMER) spacecraft, that would either steer its 8.8-ton bulk (called an “impactor”) into a small asteroid, or carry a nuclear device to deflect a big one, as reported in journal Acta Astronautica.