Asteroid Day June 30 Notebook

Asteroid Day is celebrated each June 30 on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event of 1908. This is believed to are the most harmful known asteroid strike aside from that inconvenient impact at the Chicxulub crater in Mexico some 65 million years ago. The Russians saw 2,000 square kilometers of forest flattened, but at least they didn’t go extinct… yet. The asteroid with our name on it could be headed this way anytime. How about that Apophis due on Friday the 13th in April, 2029? What will really make us unlucky is not putting the resources in place to monitor all asteroids, comets and other objects coming at us from space and developing means to protect the Earth from destruction. Let’s hope the end isn’t near…. again, and that we’ll do what needs to be done to prevent the next mass extinction. Meanwhile, party and have fun while you can. Oh, by the way, June 30 is also Meteor Watch Day, so keep an eye on those shooting stars.