Watch Live: Defending Earth from Asteroids

By Nancy Atkinson - October 25, 2013 at 2:29 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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Live streaming video by Ustream

We know that hundreds of thousands of asteroids orbit the Sun, and a very few have a high risk of striking Earth. There are also asteroids that haven't been discovered yet that can surprise us, as evidenced by the explosion over Chelyabinsk, Russia, last February. This event was confirmation that an asteroid strike is a risk we do face. But also, how do scientists counter the pseudo-scientific claims and fears that asteroids seem to generate? And what opportunities do asteroids provide for mining useful resources?

Watch live today (Friday, October 25, 2013) at 15:00 UTC (11 am EDT) as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronauts Rusty Schweickart, Tom Jones, Ed Lu, Soichi Noguchi and others discuss the research and the steps that are being taken to avoid these potential natural disasters. With current space technology, scientists know how to deflect the majority of hazardous near-Earth objects, but these technologies have not yet been tested in space, and prevention is only possible if nations work together on detection and deflection.

This webcast is sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History. You can see

their webpage about this event here.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com