By slamming into the planet at many times the speed of sound, triggering tidal waves, setting off earthquakes, vaporising anything in the impact radius, and causing centuries long dust storms, I hear you say.

Well, yeah.

But I’m not asking the question in the physical repercussions sense. I’m asking the question in the the sense of how asteroids in relatively stable, near-circular orbits out in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, can be dislodged and get into the inner system where they could cause, in Busta Rymes infamous phrase, “Extiction Level Events”.

If we can understand that, then maybe we can save ourselves having to send Bruce Willis out to save the planet.

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