An asteroid the size of Texas is heading directly toward the Earth at 22,000 MPH. NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), has only one option, to send up a crew to destroy the asteroid. He enlists the help of Harry S. Stamper (Willis), the world's foremost deep core oil driller and Stamper's roughneck team of drillers to land on the asteroid, drill into its surface, and drop a nuclear device into the core. On this heroic journey, they face the most physically and emotionally challenging conditions ever encountered to save the world and prevent Armageddon.