More details of the meteor fireball event over Chelyabinsk and the object that created it have been found in the subsequent studies:
- Meteor lurked for thousands of years before blasting Russia, experts say – Cosmic Log
- Additional Details on the Large Fireball Event over Russia on Feb. 15, 2013 – NASA JPL NEO
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If we are to ever deflect an asteroid on a collision course with earth, it would be good if there had been at least some basci tests of some techniques such as simply hitting an asteroid with an object and seeing if it as the effecst expected. Ed Wright talks about a ESA/Johns Hopkins project to do just such a test: ESA, Johns Hopkins Plan First Asteroid Intercept Mission – CitizensInSpace.com
More about the project here: Asteroid impact mission targets Didymos – ESA
AIDA is a low-budget international effort that would send two small craft to intercept a double target. While one probe smashes into the smaller asteroid at around 6.25 km/s, the other records what happens.
One effect would be a change in the orbital ballet of the two objects. AIDA is not intended to show how we could deflect an asteroid that threatens Earth but it would be a first step.