Killer asteroids - Can we avert the apocalypse? | DW Documentary

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Earth is constantly under attack. The culprit? Asteroids, which regularly hurtle towards our planet. Often, they only just miss hitting us. The consequences of a collision could be catastrophic: 66 million years ago, an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.

The collision of a 10-kilometer asteroid with our planet 66 million years ago triggered a mass extinction. 75 percent of all life on earth was wiped out - plants and animals, alike. The dinosaurs became extinct. Since then, the asteroids that have hit our planet have been much smaller. The damage they have caused has been limited. But scientists warn that another apocalyptic collision could be inevitable.

This alarming scenario is not just material for feature films like "Armageddon” or "Deep Impact”. International scientists and decision-makers are now taking this threat very seriously. For several years, they’ve been cataloging the asteroids and meteorites that could one day cross the Earth's orbit.

To date, an estimated 25,000 near-Earth asteroids threaten our planet. Cosmic bodies with a diameter of more than 140 meters are under particular scrutiny, as they could trigger catastrophes on a planetary scale. To prevent a possible apocalypse, space agencies are developing international defense programs.

In this documentary, planetary scientists, astrophysicists and engineers from the Japanese and European space agencies present the strategies they are adopting to protect our planet.

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