ASTEROID WARNING: Earth’s protection now rests solely on NASA’s LAST LINE of defence

Charles El Mir, a recent doctoral graduate from the university said: “We used to believe that the larger the object, the more easily it would break, because bigger objects are more likely to have flaws.

“Our findings show that asteroids are stronger than we used to think and require more energy to be completely shattered.”

The university’s study showed that colliding two similar sized asteroids would only result in the incoming rock being split into fragments.

Instead of the fragments breaking away Mr El Mir added that the damaged core would exert “a strong gravitational pull on the fragments” going forward.

READ MORE: NASA Mars mission: Could underwater LAKES be proof of ALIEN LIFE?