You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Hey everybody, Emily Quang here.

So we know that in the past, rocks from outer space have struck Earth and caused destruction,

sometimes mass destruction.

And the idea of having to deflect an incoming asteroid is a staple of science fiction.

It's what we call a global killer.

The end of mankind doesn't matter where it hits.

Nothing would survive, not even bacteria.

Oh my god.

That's a clip from the movie Armageddon.

It came out the same year as the similarly themed yet scientifically more plausible flick,

deep impact.

Now we get hit all the time by rocks and medias, some of them size of cars, some no bigger

than a hand.

And then there's media from 1979.

It's five miles wide.

It's traveling at a speed of 30,000 miles per hour.

And there is no place on Earth, died.

And these three movies all have something in common when it comes to how they deal with

this potential threat.

And Pier Science correspondent Nell Greenfield voices here, I'll bet she knows what it is.

I assume it's nukes, right?

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