The stars above hold many mysteries, but they also hold many dangers. One of these dangers are the large asteroids floating around space. Some have the capacity to wipe out a city, while others have the power to destroy all life on Earth. Species before us were likely to have been wiped off the planet by a killer asteroid.

Movies and science fiction have produced ideas of hypothetical ways to destroy asteroids, but some of them have failed. Most have only been limited to direct attempts to destroy them.

The reason why it is so difficult to destroy asteroids is because asteroids are made up of very strong materials. Asteroids are generally made of rock and metals. Some contain large amounts of iron. The combination of strong metals and large size create a devastatingly dangerous celestial object. Although these asteroids are constantly whizzing by the Earth, they are constantly watched closely by NASA and other space agencies.

Methods such as nuclear bombs, explosives or attaching rockets to push the asteroid away are all very hypothetical attempts. However, a new method of changing asteroid trajectory might be underway. The Yarkovsky effect is the combined force of a large amount of thermal protons. This effect would be created through the powered paint on the asteroid activating photons.