Asteroid Day Observed Annually on June 30 to Raise Awareness of Asteroid Impact Risks

Key facts

• Asteroid Day is a global awareness campaign held annually on June 30, which was officially sanctioned by the United Nations (UN) in 2016.
• The date commemorates the Siberian Tunguska event of June 30, 1908, where an asteroid approximately 50-100 metres in diameter caused a massive explosion in central Siberia, Russia.
• The event was initiated in 2014 by Brian May, Grigorij Richters, Danica Remy of the B612 Foundation, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Russel L. Schweickart.
• The 100X Declaration associated with the event calls for increasing the asteroid discovery rate by 100,000 (or 100x) per year within the next ten years.
• Proposed methods to stop asteroid impacts include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) DART mission, slow gravity tractors, and the use of solar or nuclear energy.