LUXEMBOURG, SILICON VALLEY — On June 30, asteroids will make history as the focus of a conversation shared around the world on the first ever global 24-hour broadcast about space and the role of asteroids in our solar system.
Asteroid Day LIVE, produced by Asteroid Day and sponsored by OHB, BCE and the Government of Luxembourg, will be distributed around the world via a dedicated SES satellite network. The 24-hours of programming will be hosted by Professor Brian Cox, prominent British physicist, author and BBC commentator, who will be joined in studio and around the world by famed astronauts, and expert scientists, technologists and researchers in planetary science.
“I am very pleased to be hosting Asteroid Day LIVE this June 30,” stated Prof. Cox. “This is a first-of-its-kind broadcast, celebrating and showcasing new discoveries in science that can help us understand our place in the solar system and nature – and in particular, the behaviour of asteroids. I’m very enthusiastic about it because asteroids provide a great opportunity for our civilisation, but also can pose great threats; we ignore them at our peril.”
Asteroid Day was sanctioned by the United Nations in 2016, as a “global day of education to raise awareness about asteroids.” This year, Asteroid Day includes the support and participation of the European, Japanese and American space agencies, as well as numerous business and media partners, including Discovery Channel, which is producing their own special on asteroids to be released June 30. These two special broadcasts complement more than 700 events occurring in 190 countries on and around June 30.
“For the first time in history, assets of our new space economy are enabling us to have a global conversation about space, and in particular, asteroids, via a global space network spanning all time zones,” explained Asteroid Day Co-founder Danica Remy. “This is truly exciting, as citizens around the world will be able to hear from Asteroid experts on the broadcast, while participating in local events and sharing their views on various social media platforms.”
Asteroid Day LIVE will be the first ever 24-hour live broadcast from the new Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE) studio at RTL City, Luxembourg. The program will air on various local channels subscribing to the SES satellite network, and via the Asteroid Day website. View our full schedule here and this article for instructions to watch the broadcast.
“At SES, we value technology as a tool to improve and save lives,” stated Ruy Pinto, SES Deputy CTO. “We are proud to be sponsoring this global awareness campaign to learn about asteroids, the impact hazards they may pose, the resources they may one day yield and what we can do to ensure we have the best technology available to protect our planet.”
Guests for Asteroid Day LIVE (partial listing)
View the full Line-up of the Luxembourg program, here.
- Host: Brian Cox, physicist, School of Physics and Astronomy, Uni of Manchester
- Rusty Schweickart, US Apollo 9 Astronaut; Co-founder of Asteroid Day and B612
- Ed Lu, three time US Shuttle Astronaut; Co-founder, B612
- Dorin Prunariu, first Romanian Astronaut; ASE president, UN COPUOS
- Michel Tognini, two time ESA astronaut, trained French Air Force pilot
- Jean-François Clervoy, three time ESA astronaut and French engineer
- Nicole Stott, two time US Shuttle Astronaut, Aquanaut and SciArt Advocate
- Susan McKenna-Lawlor, astrophysicist, Principal Investigator, Giotto
- Julia De Leon, astrophysicist, Instituto Astrofísica de Canarias
- Mark Boslough, physicist Chair of Asteroid Day Expert Panel
- Patrick Michel, planetary scientist, researcher at the CNRS
- Marco Fuchs, Owner and CEO OHB SE
- Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg
NASA and the University of Arizona’s programs
Everything you always wanted to know about near-Earth objects and planetary defense but were afraid to ask. At NASA, every day is Asteroid Day, with NASA-funded projects accounting for more than 90 percent of worldwide efforts in asteroid detection and mitigation. This live one-hour special will explain how NASA finds, tracks and characterizes near-Earth asteroids and how the agency is planning for planetary defense.
The University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory stands at the forefront of asteroid science. Besides leading NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission, UA/LPL also manages the world’s most active program to identify and track Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). Join us for a presentation by UA/LPL’s pioneers on the asteroid frontier.
In addition to the 24-hour live Asteroid Day LIVE broadcast, Discovery Channel has produced a special about asteroids and Asteroid Day, which will air on June 30.
“We are proud to be the principal media partner of Asteroid Day for the third year in a row, and excited to help raise awareness and spread the word among our fans through our Discovery networks around the world. As part of this partnership and to contribute to the cause, Discovery has produced a special documentary called “How to Survive an Asteroid Impact” and a 3 minute Virtual Reality video that recreates the impact of the asteroid that crashed in Tunguska in 1908. In June, Discovery Science will support Asteroid Day, with special asteroid themed programming giving viewers an insight on the risks behind asteroids, how scientists are trying to protect our planet from them and what viewers should do if one was just about to impact their city.”
[ Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Étienne Schneider stated,]
“We are very pleased to host the Asteroid Day event in Luxembourg, enhancing the excitement that our SpaceResources.lu initiative is generating across the world,” …“The partnership with the Asteroid Day activities is offering the Grand Duchy an additional opportunity to set its course in the space sector where the country is becoming increasingly important.”
About Asteroid Day: Asteroid Day was co-founded in 2014, by Dr. Brian May, astrophysicist and lead guitarist for the rock band Queen; Danica Remy, B612 Chief Operations Officer; Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart; and German filmmaker Grig Richters. Asteroid Day is held on 30 June each year to mark Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history, the Siberia Tunguska event, which devastated over 2,000 km2 of forest, an area the size of any major metropolitan city today. In 2016, Asteroid Day was declared by the United Nations to be a global day of education to raise awareness about asteroids. Founding partners include: The Association of Space Explorers, B612 and Discovery Channel and global sponsors include OHB, SES, BCE and the Luxembourg Government.
OHB SE is the prime sponsor of Asteroid Day LIVE: “Asteroids are celestial objects which fascinate everyone from young people to experienced researchers,” commented Marco Fuchs, Owner and CEO of OHB. “Protecting Earth from a significant asteroid impact through dedicated satellites, along with the future commercial exploitation of asteroids via mining, constitute global endeavors for upcoming generations. OHB takes pride in preparing for these opportunities with our own technical developments and investments.”
SOCIAL MEDIA: Join us in the Asteroid Day conversation:
TWITTER: @asteroidday #AsteroidDay, #AsteroidDayLive;
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AsteroidDay #AsteroidDay, #AsteroidDayLive
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/user/asteroidday
