# Improved asteroid deflection model runs faster, reveals more doomsday worries

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/improved-asteroid-deflection-model-runs-faster-reveals-more-doomsday-worries/
- Published: 2026-11-03T17:36:36+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T18:35:47+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/science/2026/11/03/improved-asteroid-deflection-model-runs-faster-reveals-more-doomsday-worries/5307317
- Topics: Americas, World

## Key points

- A combined simulation method runs more than 1,600 times faster.
- Asteroid shape and orientation can sharply change deflection results.
- Different sides facing a blast produced up to fivefold velocity differences.

## Summary

Sandia National Laboratories researchers have developed a faster way to model how X-rays from a nearby nuclear detonation might deflect an asteroid. The simulations show that an asteroid’s shape and orientation can greatly affect the result, making accurate targeting important when planning a deflection.

The team combined two existing codes, ALEGRA and SPARTA, which model different gas-density conditions around an asteroid. The approach is more than 1,600 times faster than earlier methods and was tested on Golevka, Bennu and Itokawa. Depending on which side faced the blast, simulations found up to a fivefold difference in velocity change; even Bennu showed nearly a twofold difference.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.