Hyderabad: In December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/71/90, declaring 30 June International Asteroid Day in order to "observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908.
International Asteroid Day aims to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to inform the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the global level in case of a credible near-Earth object threat.
The General Assembly’s decision was made based on a proposal by the Association of Space Explorers, which was endorsed by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
Significance of Asteroid Day :
- It raises awareness:-Most people are understandably so focused on what’s happening here on earth that they have no idea that asteroids pose a threat to our safety. International Asteroid Day is a great way to combat the lack of awareness around the issue. In the event that an asteroid does strike the earth, the holiday and the movement surrounding it may make a major difference in preparing people to protect themselves.
- It encourages space exploration:-International Asteroid Day inspires everyday people to hit the books and learn more about the sky above them, and the galaxy surrounding us. Among established scientists, the holiday creates an incentive for further research and perhaps even an increase in scientific funding. The United Nations General Assembly has now officially recognized the holiday, which will lead to much more encouragement for research. Cheers to shaping bright minds!
- It brings people together over a common cause:-Humans are more alike than we are different, and nothing makes that more clear than a shared threat that could harm the whole planet if it were to strike. Protecting ourselves against asteroids is a much more effective effort if the world’s greatest minds band together to share ideas.
Background :
- Near-Earth objects (NEOs) represent potentially catastrophic threats to our planet. NEO is an asteroid or comet, which passes close to the Earth's orbit. On 30th June, a massive explosion occurred over the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia.
- According to NASA, the asteroid entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of about 33,500 miles per hour. The 220-million-pound space rock heated the air around it to 44,500 degrees Fahrenheit. At the height of about 28,000 feet, the combination of pressure and heat caused the asteroid to break and destroy itself, resulting in a fireball and the release of energy equivalent to about 185 Hiroshima bombs. Over an area of 830 square miles (2,150 square kilometres), the blast destroyed an estimated 80 million trees.
- On 15 February 2013, a large fireball (technically, called a "superbolide"), travelling at a velocity of 18.6 kilometres per second, entered the atmosphere and disintegrated in the skies over Chelyabinsk. According to NASA, the approximate effective diameter of the asteroid was estimated at 18 meters and its mass at 11,000 tons. The approximate total impact energy of the Chelyabinsk Fireball, in kilotons of TNT explosives (the energy parameter usually quoted for a fireball), was 440 kilotons. The Chelyabinsk event was an extraordinarily large fireball, the most energetic impact event recognized since the 1908 Tunguska blast in Russian Siberia.
- The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has worked on NEOs for many years, recognising a NEO impact hazard as a global issue demanding an international response. Addressing such a hazard, including the identification of those objects that pose a threat of impact and planning a corresponding mitigation campaign, requires cooperative action in the interest of public safety on the part of the global community.
- Building on recommendations for an international response to a near-Earth Object impact threat, endorsed by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in 2013, the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) were established in 2014.
- The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) uses well-defined communication plans and protocols to assist Governments in the analysis of possible consequences of an asteroid impact and to support the planning of mitigation responses.
- The Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) is an inter-space agency forum that identifies technologies needed for near-Earth Object deflection and aims to build consensus on recommendations for planetary defence measures.
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(Inputs from IANS)
