This is really one for the SF fans.
It occurs to me that Nightfall is a wasted opportunity, especially if Clark can find a way to divert it rather than destroying it.
The big problem was the shortness of the time between its discovery and impact; let's assume, for the sake of argument, that it's discovered just after Superman goes public, with several weeks or months before impact. That gives a much longer time for small course changes to take effect; if Clark can fly that far with breathing gear, a few hours of gentle (for Clark) shoving should be enough to steer it clear of the Earth. But inevitably someone is going to have bigger and better ideas.
You see, there's this neat idea called an orbital tower, and the essential starting point is a really big asteroid in a 24-hour orbit over the equator...
It's an enormous project, and getting it exactly into place will need Clark to make repeated flights into space throughout the approach of Nightfall. At first there's huge excitement, but gradually people start to grumble because he's spending less time stopping crimes in Metropolis. Naturally Clark has huge problems juggling his job, the asteroid project, and Lois.
Meanwhile Lex is doing everything he can to get the contract to build the orbital tower (and yes, the technology is extremely dangerous if it goes wrong), the UN wants it to be globally owned while the USA wants it as an American project, Bureau 39 think that Clark is bringing in the Mothership, etc. etc.
I think it could be an interesting story, we've never really seen Clarke involved in a project that will take years to reach fruition, but right now I'm so far behind with other stuff that I can't possibly write it. So I'm throwing the idea out as a challenge.
Your essential reading here is Arthur C. Clarke's "The Fountains of Paradise"; Charles Sheffield's "The Web Between The Worlds" covers some of the same ground but isn't as useful.
