How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense

by Robin George Andrews

Overview

One of Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best Science Books of 2024
A Science News Favorite Book of 2024

A gripping account of the "city-killer" asteroids that could threaten Earth and the race to build a planetary defense system.

There are approximately 25,000 “city killer” asteroids in near-Earth orbit—and most are yet to be found. Small enough to evade detection, they are capable of large-scale destruction, and represent our greatest cosmic threat. But in September 2022, against all odds, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission deliberately crashed a spacecraft into a carefully selected city killer, altering the asteroid’s orbit and proving that we stand a chance against them.

In How to Kill an Asteroid, award-winning science journalist Robin George Andrews—who was at DART mission control when it happened—reveals the development of the technology that made it possible, from spotting elusive asteroids and comets to figuring out their geologic defenses and orchestrating a deflection campaign. In a propulsive narrative that reads like a sci-fi thriller, Andrews tells the story of the planetary defense movement, and introduces the international team of scientists and engineers now working to protect Earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324050193
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2024
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	42,456
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Robin George Andrews is an award-winning science journalist who regularly writes about space and geosciences for outlets including the New York Times, the Atlantic, National Geographic, Scientific American, Atlas Obscura, and Quanta Magazine. He lives in London, England.

Editorial Reviews

09/16/2024

Journalist Andrews (Super Volcanoes) serves up a rollicking study of scientific efforts to prevent asteroids from striking Earth. The narrative chronicles the development and successful execution of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, a mission that changed the orbit of the small asteroid Dimorphos by crashing a van-size spacecraft into it in 2022. Andrews describes the technical wizardry that went into making the spacecraft (it would travel too far from Earth to pilot manually, so it was outfitted with an automated guidance system adapted from ballistic missiles) and offers a tense firsthand account of what it was like inside Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, which partnered with NASA on the mission, during the countdown to impact (“Some people were rigid as stone; others vacillated as if affected by an earthquake”). Discussions of what Hollywood gets wrong about doomsday scenarios amuse, as when Andrews explains that using an uncrewed spacecraft to deliver nukes for detonation on an asteroid’s surface would have made more sense than the manned drilling missions in Armageddon and Deep Impact. Andrews’s sharp eye for detail captures the expertise and eccentricity of scientists involved in the DART mission, such as when he notes that the larger asteroid Dimorphos orbited was sometimes depicted as the Death Star in simulations. It’s a surprisingly fun report on averting catastrophe. Photos. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Highly readable and engaging. . . . Exciting and surprisingly funny, How to Kill an Asteroid is a must read for space enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys good narrative science journalism."

Rebecca Renner

"A captivating report on efforts to mitigate the worst existential risk that humanity faces…A must read for space geeks and long-term-survival aficionados."

Avi Loeb

"A page-turner of a cosmic mystery about one of the most important subjects facing humanity—planetary defense from killer asteroids. Robin George Andrews is the perfect storyteller, making NASA science accessible for everyone."

Col. Terry Virts

"Deeply researched and tenaciously reported, How to Kill an Asteroid is a detailed inside look at some of the most important recent undertakings in the history of space science…Robin George Andrews is a spirited, erudite, and humorous guide."

Ferris Jabr

"Andrews’ writing style is funny, wry, passionate, and deeply informed. How to Kill an Asteroid is one of the most entertaining pop-science reads of the year."

John Keogh

"Bookended by disparate visions of future asteroid encounters, Robin George Andrews’s storytelling and nerdy humor make the DART mission feel personal. Reading this book should assuage the fears of anyone worried that humanity will blaze out like the dinosaurs did."

Dr. Moiya McTier

"Acclaimed science journalist Robin George Andrews offers a sometimes scary, often humorous and always erudite account of the people and projects striving to safeguard Earth from space rocks and help humanity avoid the dinosaurs’ dismal fate."

Scientific American - Lee Billings

"This vividly written book reads as much like a thriller as the film plots it is trying to correct … Andrews’s dexterity in explaining complicated concepts, including how to knock asteroids off-orbit, makes this book well worth picking up, but that verbal vivacity is matched by deep reporting … You will finish the book as informed as you are entertained."

New Scientist - Chris Stokel-Walker

"[A] wonderful book…Andrews is a marvellous and witty storyteller…This is a scientific page-turner that builds up to a great climax and is written in an accessible and entertaining style, yet chockful of serious information. A direct hit, I’d say."

BBC Sky at Night Magazine - Govert Schilling

"If we’re going to avoid the fate of the dinosaurs, we need to be looking toward the sky. Robin George Andrews vividly explains how we may do just that, drawing from decades of discovery and invention to think through how we might accomplish the seemingly impossible task of pushing back against an asteroid with Earth’s name on it."

Riley Black

"Brilliantly captures the urgency and complexity of planetary defense, highlighting the innovative technologies and dedicated scientists working to protect Earth from these cosmic threats. A compelling and informative read for anyone interested in space exploration and the future of our planet."

Dante S. Lauretta

"There is much here that will fascinate any space enthusiast."

Literary Review - Andrew Crumey

"A deep dive into the extremely badass business of thwarting a destructive asteroid … [Andrews’s] thorough research brings readers all over the world and across time."

Science News - Shi En Kim

"[E]ngrossing. As Andrews moves on from the hypothetical and into reality—the history and the science that the book is all about—he keeps it interesting with a conversational writing style that makes even the jargon feel readable."

Engadget - Cheyenne Macdonald

"How to Kill an Asteroid is a testament to humanity’s ingenuity in the face of cosmic danger, and you will not find a more enthusiastic and skilled planetary guide than Robin George Andrews. With riveting detail and cinematic flair, the book catapults readers into a reality that feels like science fiction."

Kristy Hamilton

"Robin Andrews offers a rare personal look at the development of the mission, the team that made it happen, and what it was like to be inside the mission control room when the asteroid got smacked. The book leans into the sci-fi fantasy aspect of the mission, detailing all the cool science while still delivering drama, humor, and a great group of characters."

Gizmodo - Passant Rabie

2024-08-02
Big asteroids rarely strike our planet, but smaller ones not so rarely, and scientists are worrying.

Science journalist Andrews, author ofSuper Volcanoes, writes that an asteroid blew up over Chelyabinsk, a Russian city of 1.2 million, in 2013. Disintegrating before reaching the ground, it produced a vivid flash and deafening explosion that broke windows and damaged thousands of buildings. More than a hundred citizens were hospitalized. The explosion, equal to that of 500,000 tons of TNT, was caused by an asteroid 60 feet wide. History buffs remember the 1908 Tunguska meteor, which destroyed 800 square miles of remote Siberia, flattening 80 million trees with a blast equivalent to that of 12 million tons of TNT. It was 160 feet across. Surprise asteroids thrill movie audiences, but astronomers have detected most of the big ones. On the other hand, readers may be startled to learn that of the several hundred thousand Tunguska-size asteroids that astronomers call “near-Earth objects (NEOs)” (they’re also called “city killers”) thought to exist, only 7 percent have been found. Having set the scene, Andrews describes a NASA mission, DART, to send a spacecraft crashing into a distant NEO to shift its orbit. Launched in November 2021, it successfully completed its mission the following September, proving that this could be done. Andrews describes other missions to asteroids and comets, as well as ongoing NASA efforts at planetary defense, although readers may be dismayed to learn these are not a priority. A high-tech satellite, NEO Surveyor, designed to detect the mass of undetected asteroids, was proposed in the early 2000s, approved after many delays, and scheduled to launch by 2028, but that date became uncertain when its budget was cut. A member of the “science is boring” school, Andrews writes breezy prose peppered with flippant asides, jokes, and apologies for technical terms, but he has done his homework.

A skillful review of NASA efforts to save the Earth.

Kirkus Reviews