Historical Entry—Thursday, June 30, 2016
What do the lead guitarist of Queen, an Apollo astronaut, a filmmaker, and the president of an international foundation have in common? Asteroids. Nope, this is not the beginning of a joke.
In 2014, Dr. Sir Brian May (PhD of astrophysics, CDE), Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9 Lunar Module Pilot), Grigorij Richters (51 Degrees North), and Danica Remy (President of the B612 Foundation) created the Asteroid Foundation. Its goal is “to educate the public about the importance of asteroids –their role in the formation of our solar system, their impact in space resources and the importance of defending our planet from future impacts.” They drafted a petition, the 100x Declaration, to gather public support for asteroid education and called on governments to increase funding for asteroid discovery and detection programs.
The United Nations, with the leadership of the Association of Space Explorers, declared 30 June as International Asteroid Day in 2016. In the resolution they determined the date to “observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908, and raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard.”
What are asteroids? They are minor planets, that is they are objects that orbit within the inner Solar System but are neither true planets nor identified comets. They can be metallic, rocky, or icy bodies with no atmosphere. The largest asteroid, Ceres, qualifies as a dwarf planet. Other dwarf planets are Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar, Orcus, and Sedna.
Of course, in both fact and fiction asteroids have impacted Earth. The Tunguska event, the Chelyabinsk meteor, the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Barrington Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona are some of the most famous asteroid impacts in the modern world. Fictionally there are events from the movies Meteor, Deep Impact, and Armageddon, and the novels Lucifer’s Hammer (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle) and Titan (Stephen Baxter).
Watch the skies and make a wish as the asteroids become meteors. Who knows when the next asteroid will pass through the atmosphere?
Asteroid Day
Historical Event
2016
This Day in Science Fiction History examines notable events, real and fictional, concerning fantasy and science fiction in various media.
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