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The plan to pulverize Earthbound asteroids

This photo provided by NASA shows the asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy spacecraft during its flyby on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL via AP)
NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL via AP
This photo provided by NASA shows the asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy spacecraft during its flyby on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL via AP)

Blowing up an Earthbound asteroid may seem like an idea only conceivable in science fiction films, but a team of scientists is now working on an audacious plan to do it.

Host Deborah Becker speaks to Philip Lubin, a University of California, Santa Barbara professor and principal investigator of the Pulverize It project.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

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