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The news had a somber effect on the participants as they waited for the revelations of the simulation’s final “day,” August 16. After academic participants explained the energy release the region would experience, Vernon was blunt. “There would be collapsed buildings,” he says, “we’d lose our hospitals, a lot of our infrastructure would be gone, there was a chance this could take out cell phone reception for at least 50 miles, and the whole region would lose power.”

The simulation presented a final misinformation gut punch. Post-impact, an individual calling themselves “National Expert T.X. Asteroid” claimed the explosion released toxic materials from outer space into the atmosphere. As a result, residents should expect symptoms similar to radiation exposure. The baseless claims were all over social media, and “T.X” was giving interviews to news outlets.

On the positive side, NASA’s ability to disseminate information received high marks from participants, given the agency’s widespread credibility. In addition, the framework established in the White House plan also appeared robust enough to manage the flow of information between federal and state agencies and activate all necessary communication channels.

The conversations between federal and local officials provided some of the best results of the exercise: decision-makers at all levels reached new understandings regarding who would coordinate the post-impact rescue and recovery efforts and what they needed to do their jobs. One finding was that sometimes at the fine-grain levels, less is more in terms of communicating the science. “We couldn’t keep up sometimes, and that’s something they need to consider,” Vernon says. “I have mayors, fire chiefs and other folks to explain this to. We may not need to know all the science behind it, but we need to know what, when and where because we need to start making big decisions as early as possible.”

Participants also discovered that the face of the “expert” should change from the federal to the local level. “At our level, we asked who our lead spokesperson would be,” Vernon says. “Who would people respect, trust and believe when we find out it’s headed towards us? That might not be the same person NASA puts out there.”

Ultimately, the participants and the simulation’s facilitators agreed that the biggest thing they lacked was time. The asteroid destroyed Winton-Salem because of the narrow window between its discovery and impact. Widening that window is critical. “A decade is a fairly comfortable timeframe to be able to do something that would be effective,” Stickle says. “Thirty years would be ideal. That’s enough time for detailed observations, planning, building a spacecraft and getting something big to move. You’d even have time to send up a replacement if something goes wrong.”

There are promising signs that with enough warning, humanity could mount a successful response. The DART mission, for instance, already showed that a spacecraft’s impact can alter a space rock’s trajectory. Multiple surveys of near-Earth objects, asteroids and comets are ongoing, and NASA received $55 million more for planetary defense from Congress than it asked for.

“It’s going to take time and money to detect and characterize everything out there,” Rainey says. “As well as having the ability for missions that can get underway rapidly and be effective against something like this. But ultimately, that’s much cheaper than rebuilding a city.” But just in case, Vernon says, “At least now, we have a plan. Hopefully, it never has to be used.”