{"dataset":{"slug":"deflection-methods","title":"Asteroid Deflection Methods","description":"The methods of changing an asteroid's orbit — from the demonstrated kinetic impactor to theoretical nuclear concepts.","version":"1.0.0","lastGenerated":"2026-06-29","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","entityCount":4,"sources":["nasa"]},"entities":[{"id":"deflection_method:gravity-tractor","name":"Gravity Tractor","type":"deflection_method","domain":"science","description":"A spacecraft that hovers near an asteroid for years, its own tiny gravity slowly towing the asteroid onto a new path. Very slow, but precise and controllable — best used with decades of warning, and often after a kinetic impact to fine-tune the result.","entryPath":"/planetary-defense/gravity-tractor"},{"id":"deflection_method:ion-beam-deflection","name":"Ion-Beam Deflection","type":"deflection_method","domain":"science","description":"A spacecraft that points a stream of ions at an asteroid, the gentle continuous thrust pushing it aside over a long time — a slow, controllable method related to the gravity tractor, still at the concept stage.","entryPath":"/planetary-defense/ion-beam-deflection"},{"id":"deflection_method:kinetic-impactor","name":"Kinetic Impactor","type":"deflection_method","domain":"science","description":"Crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid at high speed to nudge its orbit — and getting an extra push from the plume of debris thrown off. NASA's DART did exactly this to the moonlet Dimorphos in 2022, measurably shortening its orbit; ESA's Hera is on its way to study the result up close, arriving in late 2026.","entryPath":"/planetary-defense/kinetic-impactor"},{"id":"deflection_method:nuclear-deflection","name":"Nuclear Deflection","type":"deflection_method","domain":"science","description":"Detonating a nuclear device near an asteroid — not to blow it apart, but to vaporise a layer of its surface, the escaping material shoving it onto a new course. Studied only as a last resort for the largest objects or the shortest warning times; it has never been tested and remains theoretical.","entryPath":"/planetary-defense/nuclear-deflection"}]}