There's a New Asteroid Deflection System in The Works, And It Could Be Up

There's an old joke that the dinosaurs are only extinct because they didn't develop a space agency. The implication, of course, is that unlike our reptilian ancestors, we humans might be able to save ourselves from an impending asteroid strike on Earth.The CNSA's new monitoring program will be paired with an engineering effort to design and build a high thrust rocket that can carry a kinetic impactor: a payload designed to punch an asteroid with enough force to change its orbit. The target asteroid they plan to test the impactor on is, as yet, unannounced.