Safety & Security Asteroid Day incoming on 30 June 29/01/2016 11378 views 102 likes

ESA is teaming up with the organisers of Asteroid Day 2016, scheduled for 30 June. To learn more about this year’s partners and events, members of the media are invited to visit ESA’s technical heart on Tuesday, 9 February.

Asteroid Day is an annual global movement to increase public awareness of potential asteroid impacts with Earth, and the importance of guarding against them. It was co-founded in 2015 by Brian May, astrophysicist and lead guitarist for the rock band Queen, Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart, and German filmmaker Grig Richters. The Day is held on 30 June each year to mark Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history, the Siberia Tunguska event, which devastated over 2000 sq km, the equivalent area of a major metropolitan city.

AIM asteroid mission In 2015, for the inaugural Asteroid Day, partners organised more than 150 events worldwide, spreading the word to millions of people. Activities included lectures, films, expert science presentations and educational workshops, variously organised by museums, research institutes, government agencies, universities, astronomers, filmmakers and concerned citizens, coming together to recognise our collective responsibility to address asteroid impacts, the only natural disaster humankind can prevent through increased awareness and education.

This press conference previewing this year’s Asteroid Day will be hosted by ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and scheduled to start at 15:00 CET. Interested media personnel can attend in person or follow a live webcast – see here for details.