http://www.newsweek.com/using-nuclear-bomb-defend-earth-asteroid-impact-1857518

Scientists at a United States research institute have simulated using a nuclear bomb to defend Earth against a catastrophic asteroid impact.

While it sounds like a strategy taken straight from a science fiction film, deploying a nuclear device has been proposed as one possible solution for protecting our planet in the event that a large and potentially dangerous asteroid—or other near-Earth object—is found to be on a collision course with our world.