But last year sales started to drop due to fears of an extremely rare side effect that might itself cause a deadly heart attack.

FORBES: Study Could Hurt Stent Sales

One problem was that it is extremely difficult to recreate the effect in the laboratory.

ECONOMIST: Recreating the planet's magnetic field in a laboratory

Even though the force acting on the asteroid would be extremely small, the cumulative effect over a week or so should be enough to do the trick.

ECONOMIST: The American Association for the Advancement of Science