Rusty Schweickart

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  • Johan Swanepoel

    'Asteroid Day' is a good time to learn about the threat of space rocks

    by 
    Andrew Tarantola
    Andrew Tarantola
    06.30.2017

    On June 30th, 1908, more than 770 square miles of remote Russian forest were obliterated from the face of the Earth when a relatively small meteor, estimated at only around 400 feet across, unleashed 15 megatons of energy above the Stony Tunguska River. One hundred and nine years later, humanity knows precious little more about the dangers that lurk within our solar system than we did in 1908. But a recently founded "global day of education" aims to bring the existential threat that space rocks pose to the forefront of our collective consciousness.