 After New York City is damaged by hundreds of small meteorites, NASA discovers an asteroid the size of Texas is on a collision course with Earth. They recruit the best deep core driller in the world, Harry Stamper, to train astronauts who will go to the asteroid, drill into the center and detonate a nuclear warhead. Harry says he can t train men how to drill in ten days, so he brings in his own team of roughnecks to learn to become astronauts and get the job done. One of his team is the fiancé of his own daughter.