From a national perspective, many of us face a near miss here and there every day. As a major asteroid (4581 Asclepius) nearly struck us in 1989, a massive asteroid (4581 Asclepius) nearly struck us on the day the entire Earth faced a near miss. The day 4581 Asclepius flew right on by, as the national Near Miss Day commemorates.
A mountain-sized asteroid came within 500,000 miles of colliding with the earth on March 22-23, 1989. "On the cosmic scale of things, that was a close call," Dr. Henry Holt said. According to geophysicists, a collision with Asclepius would release electricity comparable to the explosion of a 600 megaton nuclear bomb. A collision would have had catastrophic consequences on our planet. The asteroid was discovered on March 31, 1989, nine days after it had been the closest approach to Earth.
There have been other near misses that have occurred on a regular basis.
How to celebrate #nationalnearmissday
- Have you ever had a near-miss? This could be the day to tell the tale
- By visiting the NASA website, you can get up close and personal asteroids up close
- Stories about near misses are shared on the internet. Write it out or post a video
- Read about other nearby misses or not so near misses. Ann Hodges, the one known human to have been struck by a meteorite, like the one known human to have been struck by a meteorite
- Like the one below, watch videos about asteroids, meteors, and meteorites, including the one below
- To post on social media, use the hashtag #NationalNearMissDay
Near miss day events have dominated national near miss day celebrations in recent history
Although the source of the observance is obvious, the day's observance is almost unknown from our records. However, we suspect the individual to be a sort of stargazer.
Near miss FAQ
Q. How often do asteroids strike the Earth?
A. Large asteroids don't strike the Earth very often. In fact, most of the Earth's atmosphere are sparked before striking the Earth, resulting in unexpected meteor showers. During the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, the last major asteroid to strike the Earth's surface occurred millions of years ago.
Q. What kind of scientist investigates asteroids?
Asteroids, comets, galaxies, moons, moons, planets, stars, and other space objects are analyzed by A. An astronomer.
