The Asteroid Day organization marks the fifth anniversary of its founding, on the anniversary of the asteroid's fall in Tongska in 1908. The organization's volunteers will hold special events in Luxembourg (the seat of the organization's center) and around the world, including Israel
Asteroid Day, the UN's official day to increase awareness and education about asteroids, is five years old this year and what started with two live broadcasts in 2014, today includes thousands of events organized by citizens around the world on all 5 continents.
The organization was founded by astrophysicist and musician Brian May from the rock band Queen, Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweigart, film producer Greg Richters and B612 president Danica Remy, the organization's mission is to teach the world about the importance of asteroids in the formation of our universe and the role they play in our solar system today, every day The asteroid takes place every year during the week of June 30, the date of the most significant asteroid impact event on Earth in modern times.
In just five years, the most significant space agencies in the world participate in Asteroid Day: the European Space Agency ESA, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA, the Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS, and of course NASA, as well as well-known scientists, astronomers, educators and media people around the world.
In 2016, the United Nations declared Asteroid Day as the official study day in order to better understand the role of asteroids, following the impact of the meteor in the city of Chilibinsk in Russia. "Our goal is to dedicate one day each year to learning about asteroids, their origin in our universe and to support the allocation of the necessary resources to find asteroids" - explains co-founder Brian May.
A major partner of Asteroid Day is the Luxembourg government through the Luxembourg Space Agency, which leads the support for commercial space efforts. According to Atney Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Duchy of Luxembourg, "Through the creation of international partnerships, the Luxembourg Space Agency is committed to supporting and fostering the growth of the commercial space industry, to the promotion of space exploration for peaceful purposes and the utilization of space resources for the benefit of humanity, Asteroid Day supports our goals by who teach the world about asteroids, space missions and everything possible in the new space economy".
The detailed list of events around the world will be provided in April, in Israel events will be held, among others, at the observatory in Givatayim, in Planantania, and at the space center in Kfar Yerka.
Asteroid Day topics range from the scientific field of asteroids' role in the formation of our solar system to how the new space industries are accelerating technologies to advance space operations. Asteroid Day 2019 will highlight the current missions and advanced efforts to identify the characteristics and trajectories of asteroids and develop better detection, tracking and deflection techniques: DART, which will be the world's first demonstration of the kinetic collision technology to change the motion of an asteroid in space (a joint project of ESA and NASA) and two research and sample return missions For Earth: JAXA's Hibusa 2 and NASA's Osiris-Rex.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- 200 square meters of glass shattered in the city of Chelyabinsk * A senior member of the European Space Agency: apparently it is a small asteroid (February 2013)
- NASA is making progress in developing a spacecraft to divert asteroids from their orbits
- "We must prepare for the danger of an asteroid collision with the Earth, otherwise we will end up like the dinosaurs"
- The 1908 Tungaska event was caused by a comet
