A colossal asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, threatening to cause an extinction-level event, comparable to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. NASA executive Dan Truman determines the only way to stop it is to drill into its surface and detonate a nuclear bomb. This desperate measure calls for the world's best deep-core driller, Harry Stamper, who is quickly recruited for the mission. Stamper, however, insists that his own eclectic team of drillers and misfits, including his daughter’s boyfriend A.J., are the ones to join him. Under a tight deadline, they undergo a hurried and unconventional training program to prepare for space travel and the extraordinary task that awaits them.

The team is dispatched into space aboard two space shuttle orbiters, the Freedom and the Independence, joining astronauts who will pilot them to the asteroid. Their plan is rife with peril: they must land on a terrain that’s nothing like Earth, set up the drill, and plant the nuclear device at a precise depth for maximum effect. Meanwhile, meteor fragments have already begun to ravage the Earth, lending a dire urgency to their mission. As they embark on this high-stakes venture, the team confronts technical malfunctions and unpredictable surface conditions on the asteroid. Their resolve, skills, and solidarity are put to the ultimate test in a race against time to save the planet.