[Poohbah]

Actually, 36 megatons would barely make a large asteroid move at all.

What we'd really need for this issue is Orion--nuclear detonations boosting a HUGE payload. All you need for launching the damn thing is a chunk of the Earth that you don't mind turning into a radioactive wasteland. I vote for Tripoli, Libya. :o)

And then we use about 6,000 or so nukes to push the asteroid out of the ecliptic.

[hchutch]

I was thinking a series of direct surface impacts, 24-hour intervals.

Hit that thing three or four times, it will shatter and then the last blast will scatter the fragments.

[justanotherfreeper]

All you need for launching the damn thing is a chunk of the Earth that you don't mind turning into a radioactive wasteland. I vote for Tripoli, Libya. :o)

Actually, San Francisco is my first choice, followed by Mecca, Chappaqua, Paris, and Ottawa.