Asteroid Day

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Jean

Today is Asteroid Day, the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska event:

June 30, 1908 In a remote part of Russia, a fireball was seen streaking across the daytime sky. Within moments, something exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia’s Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia.

This event – now widely known as the Tunguska event – is believed to have been caused by an incoming asteroid (or comet), which never actually struck Earth but instead exploded in the atmosphere, causing what is known as an air burst, three to six miles (5–10 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.

The explosion released enough energy to kill reindeer and flatten trees for many kilometers around the blast site. But no crater was ever found.
—Today in science: Tunguska explosion

The idea of Asteroid Day is to increase awareness of asteroids so we can track them and do something if one becomes a threat to the earth. And, of course, to possibly turn them into something useful. This video proposes a seemingly wild idea, but who knows? One thing is certain, I won’t be around if it ever happens.

June 30, 2017

 

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7 Responses to Asteroid Day

  1. tammy j says:
    June 30, 2017 at 8:41 am

    I don’t mean to be a Debbie downer. but all I can really think of when I watch that last video…
    ” I would like to think we could solve the overwhelming man made devastation of our own planet before we start devastating and garbaging a new one. “

    • Jean says:
      June 30, 2017 at 4:46 pm

      It reminds me of Ray Bradbury years ago writing about mankind trashing things in outer space. Just nature in action, not always pretty.

  2. Rummuser says:
    June 30, 2017 at 10:29 am

    What balderdash!

    • Jean says:
      June 30, 2017 at 4:53 pm

      I assume you mean the part about using asteroids? India is involved in Asteroid Day: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/asteroid-day-celebrated-with-live-asteroid-watch-4729177/

      It’s also involved in outer space projects:

      India then launched on 5 November 2013 its maiden interplanetary mission, the Mars Orbiter Mission. The primary objective is to determine Mars’ atmospheric composition and attempt to detect methane. The spacecraft completed its journey on 24 September 2014 when it entered its intended orbit around Mars, making India the first Asian country to successfully place a Mars orbiter and the only country in history to do so in the first attempt. India became the fourth space agency in the world to send a spacecraft to Mars, only behind United States, Russia, and the European Union.

      In addition to increasing national pride, countries are commercially motivated to operate in space. Commercial satellites are launched for communications, weather forecasting, and atmospheric research. According to a report by the Space Frontier Foundation released in 2006, the “space economy” is estimated to be worth about $180 billion, with more than 60% of space-related economic activity coming from commercial goods and services. China and India propose the initiation of a commercial launch service.

  3. Barbara says:
    June 30, 2017 at 11:01 am

    Amazing!
    What a shame if we spent billions on this and still couldn’t have decent health care for our country.

  4. Looney says:
    July 4, 2017 at 1:21 am

    Guess I am required to “no comment” on this one.

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