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Armageddon

A massive meteor shower destroys the orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis before entering the atmosphere and bombarding Boston, Philadelphia, Moncton, Halifax, Newfoundland and New York City, the latter being extensively damaged. The meteors were pushed out of the asteroid belt by a collision from a rogue comet the size of Texas and NASA learns it will impact Earth in 18 days, wiping out all life on the planet.

NASA devises a plan to drill a deep hole into the asteroid, into which they will insert and detonate a nuclear bomb to split it into two pieces that will each pass to one side of Earth. They recruit Harry Stamper, a third-generation oil driller and owner of an oil drilling company, who agrees to help but on the condition that he bring in his own team to do the drilling. He picks his best employees for the job: Chick Chapple, his best friend and right-hand man; geologists Rockhound and Oscar Choice; and drillers Bear Curlene, Max Lennert, Freddie Noonan, and A. J. Frost (who has been dating Harry's daughter Grace despite Harry's objections). Over twelve days, they are trained to become astronauts with astronaut Willie Sharp, who will pilot Freedom — one of the two super shuttles to fly to the asteroid, the other being the Independence. Before leaving, Chick apologizes to his ex-wife for wronging her and sees his son—who is unaware of his parentage—and Grace accepts A.J.'s marriage proposal, much to Harry's reluctant dismay; she later has her father promise to return home safe and with her fiancé.

Following the destruction of Shanghai by another meteor strike, word of the asteroid becomes public to the world. Both shuttles take off without incident and dock with a Russian space station to take on fuel, but a broken pipeline sets the fuel pod ablaze. A.J. and Roscosmos cosmonaut Lev Andropov narrowly manage to board Independence before the space station is obliterated.

Approaching the asteroid, Independence is damaged by debris and crashes, killing Oscar, Freddie, and the rest of the crew. The survivors—Lev, Bear, and A.J.—embark in the shuttle's mobile driller "Armadillo" to find the Freedom crew, which landed 26 miles (42 km) from its intended landing/drilling site. When the drilling goes slower than predicted, Sharp reports to Mission Control that it is unlikely they will reach the depth necessary to split the asteroid before "Zero Barrier", the point after which splitting the rock will not prevent the pieces from hitting and destroying Earth. The president of the United States decides to remotely detonate the bomb from Earth immediately, not understanding this will cause total mission failure. Sharp and Harry have a vicious argument, but agree to defuse the bomb and work together after Harry promises Sharp that he will accomplish the mission. They make up on lost drilling time, but a missed gas pocket causes their Armadillo and Max to be blown into space. Just as Harry, NASA, and the world believe the mission to be a failure, and another meteor destroys Paris, A.J. and the others arrive in the second Armadillo.

A.J. successfully finishes the drilling, but a rock storm kills munitions officer Gruber and damages the bomb's remote detonator, forcing someone to stay behind and manually detonate it. They draw straws; A.J. is given the responsibility. Harry takes him down to the asteroid's surface, only to disconnect A.J.'s air hose and force him back into the shuttle's air lock, before telling A.J. that he is the son Harry never had, and he would be proud to have him marry Grace. From within the Armadillo, Harry tearfully gives Grace his blessing to marry A.J., and Grace says she is proud to be his daughter.

After overcoming a malfunction, Freedom takes off, and just before Zero Barrier, Harry manages to detonate the bomb and saves the planet, sacrificing his life in the process. The astronauts land on Earth safely. A.J. and Grace are reunited, and Chick reconciles with his ex-wife and estranged son. During the credits, A.J. and Grace are married, with the portraits of Harry, Oscar, Max, and Freddie present in memoriam.