Scientists have tabled plans to use nuclear weapons to take out a "city killer" asteroid that risks smashing into the moon.
The enormous asteroid is believed to measure 180 feet wide and would be capable of wiping an entire city off the map.
Scientists sounded the alarm last year after the likelihood of the "killer" striking Earth increased to three per cent.
However, further examinations of the asteroid, known as 2024 YR4, allowed humanity to breathe a sigh of relief after it was proven that it would be missing the planet.
The enormous asteroid is believed to measure 180 feet wide - and would be capable of wiping an entire city off the map
|NASA
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However, researchers remain wary - as there is still a chance the massive asteroid could crash into the Moon, with the probability currently standing at four per cent.
Scientists have warned that a strike would send rock and dust from the surface of the Moon hurtling towards Earth.
In a new study, researchers wrote: "Studies of 2024 YR4's potential lunar impact effects suggest lunar ejecta could increase micrometeoroid debris flux in low Earth orbit.
"Up to 1,000 times above background levels over just a few days, possibly threatening astronauts and spacecraft."
Researchers remain wary as there is still a chance the massive asteroid could crash in to the Moon
|GETTY
Scientists have previously put humanity's ability to deter large asteroids to the test.
Nasa's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) mission was able to successfully knock a moonlet of the Didymos asteroid off course by smashing a spacecraft into it.
In the study, scientists warned that "deflection missions were assessed and appear impractical".
Researchers have now proposed the idea of using nuclear weapons to destroy 2024 YR4 if it is confirmed to make a lunar impact.
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Researchers have proposed the idea of using nuclear weapons to destroy 2024 YR4
|GETTY
The study mentioned that a "successful nuclear deflection or disruption of the asteroid" was possible if scientists were given enough notice ahead of the strike.
The researchers wrote: "Kinetic robust disruption missions are available with launches between April 2030 and April 2032
"Nuclear robust disruption missions are also available with launches between late 2029 and late 2031."
It is believed 2024 YR4 could weigh between 51 million to more than 711 million kilogrammes.
Scientists have expressed concern that a miscalculation could accidentally redirect the asteroid towards Earth.
However, researchers have noted that the likelihood of 2024 YR4 smashing in to the Moon is so low that it is more than the likely the plan will never be put in place.
The closest recorded asteroid near-miss in recent times came in November 2020, when 2020 VT4 came within just 383km of hitting the planet.
However, 2020 VT4 was not believed to be a "city-killer", with scientists estimating it had a diameter between five to 10 metres.
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