World Asteroid Day is celebrated every year on June 30 around the world to create awareness among people about asteroids. The day is observed with the purpose of educating the common public about the risks of asteroids and the opportunities in the field.
Incidentally, international asteroid day is observed on June 30, to mark the day the Earth had experienced its largest asteroid impact in recorded history – the Siberia Tunguska incident on June 30, 1908.
The Asteroid story
The Asteroid Day, however, came into existence after the release of the 2014 sci-fi thriller, 51 Degrees North. The film is about a filmmaker researching on near-earth objects who learns that an asteroid is about to strike London. To raise awareness about the threat of asteroids, the film’s creative team (many of whom are scientists) formed a foundation, and in 2015, celebrated the world’s first International Asteroid Day.
Later, in 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution and declared June 30 as the International Asteroid Day.
Also read: Earth strikes back! NASA spacecraft to smash into asteroid
What happens on International Asteroid Day
The world asteroid day importance lies in preparing the planet for a potential asteroid impact. This day also motivates scientists to expedite the discovery of asteroids. Scientists believe that only a small percentage of asteroids have been found in space so far and thousands are yet to be discovered.
The day is also spent increasing awareness about the ways in which people can protect themselves in the event of an asteroid colliding with the earth. It also encourages space exploration and pushes governments to increase scientific funding.
Diverting an asteroid off-course
On World Asteroid Day, scientists are also talking about NASA’s highly-anticipated and most challenging plan to re-route an asteroid by smashing into it.
The exercise, which is called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or DART, will have a 500kg spacecraft crash into binary asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos (nicknamed “Didymoon”), and make them change their trajectory.
Also read: Nasa is ready with a sci-fi plot and it will play out for real
Though, Didymos and Didymoon, are not on course towards earth, this is NASA’s way to learn a valuable planetary defense skill—how to divert or push an asteroid off-course. All in the eventuality that it may travel towards earth one day.
Hollywood and Asteroids
Hollywood has made many films on the threat of asteroids to earth like Armageddon and Deep Impact in 1998, but the most recent film that made people sit up was the Oscar nominee, the 2021 Don’t Look Up. The film, with Leonard di Caprio, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence among others, is a satirical take on how the world reacts when they know asteroids are going to hit the earth. Watching the film may be a good way to observe World Asteroid Day.