NASA’s asteroid collision: how many asteroids are really out there?

More or Less: behind the statistics

Saturday, 1 October 2022 - 10 minutes

This week NASA slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid in the hope of diverting its course. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test or DART mission will help scientists understand how easy it would be protect Earth if one was headed in our direction. More Or Less first discussed this in 2016 with a little help from the movie Armageddon – with listeners getting in touch once again we ask how many asteroids are really out there and how dangerous they might be to Earth.

Presenters: Charlotte McDonald and Simon Maybin
Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Coordinator: Jacqui Johnson
Sound Engineer: James Beard


(Image: 3D rendering of a swarm of Meteorites or asteroids entering the Earth atmosphere: ratpack223/ Getty)

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