An Asteroid Came Uncomfortably Close to Earth in July. Could we Have Stopped it?

On July 15th, 2023, astronomers discovered an asteroid 43 meters across, two days before it passed within a quarter of the distance from the Earth to the Moon. If it had struck the Earth, it would have impacted with 1.5 megatonnes of energy and caused significant local damage. Is there anything we could do to stop asteroids this size from causing damage, even if we have just hours or days of notice? Surprisingly, yes, with the "pulverize it" method. The post An Asteroid Came Uncomfortably Close ...