TO THE EDITOR:
Imagine the scenario. It’s 2025 and for the past five years scientists have been tracking an asteroid that’s 30 miles in diameter. It’s trajectory shows that it will strike the Yucatán peninsula destroying all life on Earth similar to what happened 66 million years ago when the dinosaurs became extinct. Russia and the U.S. combine resources as they have done in the past. One provides the rockets, the other the one megaton warhead. The rocket launches and will intercept 484 million miles from Earth, the distance of Jupiter. When the rocket is 10 miles away from the asteroid, the nuclear weapon is detonated. The asteroid is intact but its trajectory has been changed by 0.03 degrees. Rather than striking the Yucatán, it safely passes 240,000 miles away from Earth, the distance of the moon. In her September 3 article, “Working for peace is a requirement of love,” Sister Patricia McCarthy says it’s a sin to build a nuclear bomb. I’m not so sure.
Vin Coughlin, Pawtucket
