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Alarm bells are ringing in observatories around the world. An asteroid the size of a skyscraper was heading towards Earth at breakneck speed. The impact would be catastrophic.
Governments summoned their best scientific minds. The only option is to divert the asteroid from its trajectory. After weeks of frantic calculations, the solution arrives: a mother ship would launch a nuclear missile which, exploding on the asteroid, would alter its course.
All nations join forces to build the ship and the missile. When it is ready, it is launched into space on a life-or-death mission for the planet.
Tension mounts as the ship approaches. Finally, the missile hits full impact, exploding in a violent deflagration. For a few agonising minutes, no one knows if it has worked.
Then, measurements confirm that the trajectory has changed sufficiently: the asteroid will pass by. The Earth is safe.
A sigh of relief sweeps the world at the triumph of science and human cooperation over the threat from the sky.