THe rEAL science of planetary defense

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out now

CRASHING INTO BOOKSTORES WORLDWIDE

It’s 7pm on September 26th, 2022. Across the campus of a university in Maryland, hundreds of people are glued to their screens—windows into the cold depths of space—counting down to the moment that everything changes. And all over the world, astronomers are standing by their telescopes, all pointed at one tiny speck of light in the night sky. Seven million miles from home, an uncrewed spaceship is heading toward an asteroid at breakneck speeds. Its mission: to crash straight into it, losing its robotic life in the process and change the journey of that asteroid around the sun.

This is it. This single space mission could alter the course of human history.

Forget the planet killers; astronomers have found pretty much all the heftiest asteroids. But tens of thousands of so-called city killers – asteroids the size of football stadiums – lurk out there in the darkness, as yet undiscovered. They are far more likely to impact Earth than those rarer, larger rocky beasts. They have struck Earth plenty of times in the past. More impacts are a certainty. And if we get unlucky, one could careen into a random country with little warning, killing millions of people in an instant.

For most of our species’ existence, we were helpless to stop such a catastrophe. But perhaps no longer: If all goes according to plan, in the not-too-distant future, we will be able to prevent any of those elusive city killer asteroids from ever reaching our planet, making this the only natural disaster we can completely prevent. And it all starts with something as brilliant as it is absurd: build a spacecraft like none other, find an asteroid, slam into it as fast as possible, and deflect it—a trial run for saving a city, a country, or even the world.

Voyaging across the world, from America to Japan, from Botswana to Russia, before journeying millions of miles through space, HOW TO KILL AN ASTEROID tells the propulsive true story of how a maverick team of madcap scientists and eccentric engineers plan to prevent an inevitable future asteroid impact by creating Earth’s planetary defense system—one that ultimately hinges on whether humanity’s very first attempt to dramatically deflect an asteroid succeeds or fails. And it only took a prison break, Oppenheimer, a small city in North Carolina volunteering to be hit by an asteroid, two robots stealing cosmic matter from the dawn of time, blowing up cotton candy with a very big gun, several exploding alien intruders, a planet killer comet striking Jupiter, priceless extraterrestrial material being hidden in a British shopping bag, a spy inside the sun’s vast shadow, a giant hole in the middle of Arizona, a small Italian box in deep space, Star Wars, Star Trek, a wild idea by someone in the U.S. Air Force, and a heck of a lot of people looking up, to get there.

It is a story of triumph and innovation, of creative design and engineering genius, a science-(non)fiction thriller about averting the end of the world as we know it.

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PRAISE FOR HOW TO KILL AN ASTEROID

ONE OF AMAZON’S EDITORS’ PICKS FOR BEST BOOKS OF THE MONTH (OCTOBER)

“Deeply researched and tenaciously reported, How to Kill an Asteroid is a detailed inside look at some of the most important recent undertakings in the history of space science. In this comprehensive chronicle, Andrews tells nothing less than the story of humanity’s effort to, as one of his sources puts it, ‘rearrange the solar system’ in order to save the world. A scientist turned journalist, Andrews is a spirited, erudite, and humorous guide, delivering prose that is scholarly yet conversational, grounded yet cinematic. For space enthusiasts, this fascinating book will surely be as much a valuable resource as a heaping bowl of mind candy.”

—Ferris Jabr, author of Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life

“How to Kill an Asteroid is a testament to humanity’s ingenuity in the face of cosmic danger, and you will not find a more enthusiastic and skilled planetary guide than Andrews. With riveting detail and cinematic flair, the book catapults readers into a reality that feels like science fiction. Andrews gives readers a front-row seat to the drama of destruction and self-preservation, and reminds us that even in the face of danger, there's room for wit and humor. As Andrews quips, ‘who says you can’t have fun while trying to to save the world?’”

—Kristy Hamilton, science journalist and award-winning author of Nature's Wild Ideas

“Andrews’ writing style is funny, wry, passionate, and deeply informed. How To Kill An Asteroid is one of the most entertaining pop-science reads of the year.”

—John Keogh, Booklist (Starred Review)

“This vividly written book…reads as much like a thriller as the film plots it is trying to correct… From the first page, Andrews throws us into the action... The language is beautifully chosen, and the future leaps into life through his words. Andrews’s dexterity in explaining complicated concepts, including how to knock asteroids off-orbit, makes this book well worth picking up, but that verbal vivacity is matched by deep reporting. One chapter… is hauntingly written. But there is positivity too, as we realise the brightest minds are working to protect us from doomsday.”

“You will finish the book as informed as you are entertained.”

—Chris Stokel-Walker, New Scientist

”Acclaimed science journalist Robin George Andrews offers a sometimes scary, often humorous and always erudite account of the people and projects striving to safeguard Earth from space rocks and help humanity avoid the dinosaurs’ dismal fate.”
—Lee Billings, Scientific American

“Andrews serves up a rollicking study of scientific efforts to prevent asteroids from striking Earth… [and] offers a tense firsthand account of what it was like inside Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory… during the countdown to impact. Andrews’s sharp eye for detail captures the expertise and eccentricity of scientists involved in the DART mission… It’s a surprisingly fun report on averting catastrophe.”

—Publishers Weekly

”Award-winning science journalist Robin Andrews offers a rare personal look at the development of the mission, the team that made it happen, and what it was like to be inside the mission control room when the asteroid got smacked. The book leans into the sci-fi fantasy aspect of the mission, detailing all the cool science while still delivering drama, humor, and a great group of characters.”
—Passant Rabie, Gizmodo

Artwork for The Sunday Times Magazine by Neil Edwards

As featured in The Sunday Times Magazine

As featured in The Observer New Review

Received a notice in the The New York Times Book Review

As featured in Scientific American

As featured in Gizmodo

As featured in New Scientist—twice in fact

As featured in American Scientist

As featured in Popular Science, twice actually

As featured in Supercluster

As featured on Slate’s Decoder Ring, “A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World”

As featured on BBC Radio 4

As featured on USA TODAY

As featured on We Can Be Weirdos, Part One and Part Two

Featured in the WIRED Daily newsletter

One of the Washington Independent Review of Books Fall 2024 Highlights

One of Engadget’s What To Read This Weekend picks

As featured on Pale Blue Pod

As featured on The SETI Institute

“Andrews writes breezy prose peppered with flippant asides, jokes, and apologies for technical terms… [and] he has done his homework. A skillful review of NASA efforts to save the Earth.”

—Kirkus

“…this book reads like an apocalyptic nightmare, which is to say it’s pretty engrossing.”

—Cheyenne MacDonald, Engadget

“A wild, but hopeful, ride.”

-Dr. Alfredo Carpineti, science journalist at IFLScience and author of Invisible Rainbows

“If you ever lie awake at night dreading Earth’s impending doom from an asteroid impact, you should read Robin George Andrews’s How to Kill an Asteroid. In this highly readable and engaging book, you'll learn about the science of planetary defense and all the scientists preparing to save Earth—if that time ever comes. Exciting and surprisingly funny, How to Kill an Asteroid is a must-read for space enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys good narrative science journalism.”

—Rebecca Renner, author of Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades

“Bookended by disparate visions of future asteroid encounters, Andrews’ storytelling and nerdy humor make the DART mission feel personal. Reading this book should assuage the fears of anyone worried that humanity will blaze out like the dinosaurs did.”

—Dr. Moiya McTier, author of The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy

“If we’re going to avoid the fate of the dinosaurs, we need to be looking towards the sky. Robin George Andrews vividly explains how we may do just that, drawing from decades of discovery and invention to think through how we might accomplish the seemingly impossible task of pushing back against an asteroid with Earth's name on it.”

—Riley Black, author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and When the Earth Was Green

“How to Kill an Asteroid is a page-turner of a cosmic mystery about one of the most important subjects facing humanity—planetary defense from killer asteroids. Robin George Andrews is the perfect storyteller, making NASA science accessible for everyone.”

—Col. Terry Virts, author of How to Astronautand View from Above

“A captivating report on efforts to mitigate the worst existential risk that humanity faces. Robin George Andrews describes accurately the scientific lessons learned from the extinction of the dinosaurs by a rocky impactor. They include looking up and perfecting methods to deflect large future impactors. A must-read for space geeks and long-term-survival aficionados.”

—Avi Loeb, New York Times best-selling author of Extraterrestrial and Interstellarand Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation, Harvard University

“Andrews provides an extensive, enlightening review of the history and state of planetary defense, talking to many of the major people involved in the field today. They have colorful stories to tell… The book is effective in explaining both the threats of asteroid impacts and the ability of humanity to do something about them, a capability we lack for many other natural disasters.

—Jeff Foust, The Space Review

"DART's successful mission was a pivotal moment in our understanding of asteroid defense. Robin George Andrews' 'How to Kill an Asteroid' brilliantly captures the urgency and complexity of planetary defense, highlighting the innovative technologies and dedicated scientists working to protect Earth from these cosmic threats. A compelling and informative read for anyone interested in space exploration and the future of our planet."

—Dante Lauretta, Regents Professor of Planetary Science, University of Arizona and author of The Asteroid Hunter.