First Ever Planetary Defense MissionTop of Mind with Julie Rose • Season 1, Episode 985, Segment 2
Jan 15, 2019 • 16m
Guest: Andy Rivkin, DART Investigation Team Lead Planetary Astronomer, Johns Hopkins University
One of the leading explanations for why dinosaurs went extinct is that a giant asteroid smashed into Earth 65 million years ago. We’re lucky another one hasn’t hit us since –otherwise we might have to send Bruce Willis to space with a nuclear bomb on his back to blow up the asteroid while the world cheers him on -like he did in the movie Armageddon. That’s Hollywood, but an asteroid collision really is a threat to Earth –enough so that NASA has a special mission to prepare for it. It’s called, “DART” and it’s entering a crucial phase.