4,126 Average number of predicted deaths from a 50-meter-wide asteroid strike 18,424 Average number of deaths from a 100-meter-wide asteroid 276,311 Average number of deaths from a 400-meter-wide asteroid Death from the skies A new project simulating 1.2 million asteroid strikes estimates how many deaths could result from each effect of a falling space rock (averages for three classes of asteroid simulated are shown in the interactive below). Proposals include whacking the asteroid like a billiard ball with a high-speed spacecraft or frying part of the asteroid’s surface with a nearby nuclear blast so that the vaporized material propels the asteroid away like a jet engine.