Imagine a gigantic blast coming out of Yellowstone National Park, an explosion that’s 10,000 times bigger than all the world’s nuclear bombs.
Everything as far away as Idaho Falls is instantly vaporized. Firestorms from the blast and debris raining down obliterate entire cities, like Boise. Anyone who survived the blast would quickly starve to death, as ash, dust and sulfur would block out the sun and kill all the plants. More than 70 percent of all species on Earth would die.
That really happened 66 million years ago when the Chicxulub asteroid smashed into Mexico, causing a worldwide extinction. And it wasn’t a one-off; thousands of Near Earth Asteroids threaten our planet, and we really don’t have an organized way to stop another worldwide catastrophe.
The Planetary Society is trying to change that. They’re trying to defend Earth from these killer asteroids while also advocating for more space exploration.
Jack R. Kiraly, Chief of Advocacy with the Planetary Society, is coming to Boise on Friday, Sept. 4 for Boise State’s First Friday Astronomy program, which is celebrating it's 10 year anniversary.
He joined Idaho Matters to talk about the Society and about killer asteroids!
