WORLD ASTEROID DAY 2023: The United Nations has designated June 30 as World Asteroid Day to raise public awareness about the dangers of asteroid strikes and measures that need to be taken in case of a near-earth object threat. Asteroids are celestial rocks smaller than a planet but revolve around the sun like them. They are leftovers from the formation of our solar system. From being as small as 10 meters across to as huge as 530 km in diameter, asteroids have varied sizes.
World Asteroid Day: History
The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution A/RES/71/90 in December 2016, designating June 30 as International Asteroid Day. The date was chosen to commemorate the anniversary of the Tunguska asteroid’s impact over Siberia on June 30, 1908. The Association of Space Explorers submitted the proposal to observe the day, which was then approved by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
World Asteroid Day: Significance
World Asteroid Day is dedicated to preparing the planet for an asteroid impact. Another goal for the day is to speed up the discovery of asteroids. Scientists think that only a small percentage of asteroids have been detected in space thus far, with hundreds more still to be discovered.
As per the UN website, The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) employs well-defined communication strategies and procedures to help governments analyse potential asteroid impacts and plan mitigating responses. The Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) is an inter-space agency group that analyses technologies required for near-Earth Object deflection and seeks consensus on planetary defence ideas.
World Asteroid Day: Quotes
- “The idea is to raise awareness of, not only the dangers of asteroids, but also the fact that we have solutions in hand to find dangerous asteroids and do something about it.” —Tom Jones
- “Sixty-six million years ago, a ten-kilometre space rock plummeted into the Ucitan Peninsula, causing a prolonged nuclear winter, killing off the Dinosaurs. Today, such a collision would likely end human civilization” —David Eicher
- “We really need an internationally agreed and coordinated strategy for the development of asteroid mitigation technology and very importantly the implementation of procedures for an emergency deflection scenario.” —Alan Harris
- “There is a very real, albeit remote, possibility of an asteroid potentially hitting the earth. But our science also shows us, we could predict such an event years in advance. And human ingenuity has the potential to stop such an event from ever happening. These qualities make the asteroid threat unique among natural disasters. For the first time, life on earth has the ability to take control of all of its destiny in the universe.” —Scott Manley
- “Sooner or later disasters such as an asteroid collision or a nuclear war could wipe us all out, but once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe” —Stephen Hawking
Comments
0 comment