Asteroid Day 2020 is upon us.
In this video I explain why the United Nations have designated June 30th as the day of asteroids and why we need to learn more about them. An asteroid might be on a collision course with our planet in the future.
Asteroid Day reminds us that we need to learn more about these space rocks so we can send spacecraft up to divert them away from Earth and possibly save our planet and its inhabitants.
Asteroids were formed at the very start of the Solar System, at the same time as the planets and so they can tell us a lot about how the planets formed. But they could also be useful in the future if we can mine them for their precious metals. Asteroid Day reminds us that we don’t need to be scared of these space rocks, and that they might even end up saving our planet from environmental destruction.
If Asteroid Day has got you thinking you want to learn more about these enigmatic space rocks then my book Catching Stardust is a great place to start. It’s aimed at non-specialists wanting to learn more about asteroids, as well as comets, and how we study them in space. It also looks at diverting asteroids away from dangerous Earth-crossing orbits, as well as discussing asteroid mining! Available as hardback/ebook/audiobook.