Ancient Military Weapon Holds Key to Asteroid Defense

Researchers at The Aerospace Corporation are developing an asteroid deflection system using electric catapults. The plan involves launching a suborbital accelerator onto an asteroid, digging up small chunks of regolith, and flinging them away to change the asteroid's trajectory. Inspired by SpinLaunch's technology, the team aims to test the system on the Moon after lab trials. While large asteroids are not currently a threat, smaller space rocks can pose a danger. NASA monitors 28,000 space rocks and none are projected to collide with Earth in the next century.