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Spotlights illuminate the Saturn V booster rocket on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida carrying the Apollo 8 spacecraft and its crew of three astronauts, on December 19, 1968. AP
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World Asteroid Day: a rendering of the Psyche asteroid
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Hills are covered with fallen and burnt trees after a meteorite hit in 1908. Getty
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People look at what scientists believe to be a chunk of the Chelyabinsk meteor in 2013. AP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/QG2GPAUJO3EOA6QD7WMOAITBYQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=2c88d5c661c3e235fcee1566585293b01f7f156e028d4dacbe86ecf2e11faa03&width=400&height=225)
People standing near a six-metre hole in the ice of a frozen lake, reportedly the site of a meteor fall, outside the town of Chebakul in central Russia. AFP
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A meteorite trail is seen above a residential apartment block in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk in 2013. AFP
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The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (Atlas), pictured in Hawaii.
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The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, under construction in 2019, promises to reveal more objects faster than any previous telescope. Photo: LSST
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A computer-generated image shows the impact of the Dart projectile on the binary asteroid system, Didymos. ESA/AFP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/3QZ2RT4PEH2GGQ32677XFCICME.jpg?smart=true&auth=a13dad3b260e4b04f794062e5dac0efca86776cddf7a78107a7ffbee401e8025&width=400&height=225)
Spotlights illuminate the Saturn V booster rocket on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida carrying the Apollo 8 spacecraft and its crew of three astronauts, on December 19, 1968. AP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/3DBG5XIEFBMC46HT2AZKFWUK6I.jpg?smart=true&auth=17daec76ad73802338e788c6d66118d8cdad4a6b5028c0006fb93ea9073a0bbd&width=400&height=225)
World Asteroid Day: a rendering of the Psyche asteroid
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/T5E6BO6IGVBT6RWRSHRGJOTSNA.jpg?smart=true&auth=c07d97d240d5dcc9bff15ceec13aa08de18d8e65fd062ad28d8b09701eef2b4a&width=400&height=225)
Hills are covered with fallen and burnt trees after a meteorite hit in 1908. Getty
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KVSVDMQHBMMTDAAC2QE7N7F6SQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=c33e518d701472f56313f0b3356fd1a3cdc20b02d3e764abe10466f9a0fc4433&width=400&height=225)
People look at what scientists believe to be a chunk of the Chelyabinsk meteor in 2013. AP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/QG2GPAUJO3EOA6QD7WMOAITBYQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=2c88d5c661c3e235fcee1566585293b01f7f156e028d4dacbe86ecf2e11faa03&width=400&height=225)
People standing near a six-metre hole in the ice of a frozen lake, reportedly the site of a meteor fall, outside the town of Chebakul in central Russia. AFP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/EI6WCVQDPWA4BG2OCJXY4AZIVA.jpg?smart=true&auth=bb52931befd2a6d94a550108e62c7def19eaeb7392dc972a4697d4b7e63dfd8f&width=400&height=225)
A meteorite trail is seen above a residential apartment block in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk in 2013. AFP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KEJATE3HPP754ZXBSTQG75FVKY.jpg?smart=true&auth=12c35fb8fa6031c6724946de30c579d33fcd08a0bd0b7c66a0b0a1f9728291b9&width=400&height=225)
The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (Atlas), pictured in Hawaii.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/M7QJX2AVXKQUEPPNJ4H6W6RWCU.jpg?smart=true&auth=a98b4f86574b0fbaf83d03f45bb82aedabc8f7481ea5b645c5aef8ac61854808&width=400&height=225)
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, under construction in 2019, promises to reveal more objects faster than any previous telescope. Photo: LSST
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/LVKGPPEGBPUEXNQT44OKKOZBBI.jpg?smart=true&auth=02686e0a7b7f9bbd61354c58ba57186e2d5888ef1e4651100d1c0c2d46ae16b6&width=400&height=225)
A computer-generated image shows the impact of the Dart projectile on the binary asteroid system, Didymos. ESA/AFP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/3QZ2RT4PEH2GGQ32677XFCICME.jpg?smart=true&auth=a13dad3b260e4b04f794062e5dac0efca86776cddf7a78107a7ffbee401e8025&width=400&height=225)
Spotlights illuminate the Saturn V booster rocket on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida carrying the Apollo 8 spacecraft and its crew of three astronauts, on December 19, 1968. AP
Between a rock and a hard place: the asteroids that could wipe out Earth
As the world grapples with Covid-19, the prospect of a calamity striking from space doesn't bear thinking about
Robert Matthews
30 June, 2020
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