Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Arts & Culture

NOVA: Meteor Strike

Meteor trail
Courtesy of Pioneer Productions
Meteor trail

Airs Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

Dashboard camera image of first glimpse of meteor burning up as it enters atmosphere.
Courtesy of Oddball
Dashboard camera image of first glimpse of meteor burning up as it enters atmosphere.
Dr. Richard Greenwood, meteorite expert from the Open University, analyses CCTV footage of the meteorite passing.
Courtesy of Pioneer Productions
Dr. Richard Greenwood, meteorite expert from the Open University, analyses CCTV footage of the meteorite passing.
GFX of meteor burning up over Chelyabinsk and surrounding areas.
Courtesy of Reel Thing/Pioneer Productions
GFX of meteor burning up over Chelyabinsk and surrounding areas.

The Asteroid That Hit L.A.

Use a catastrophe calculator to try out some "what-if" scenarios regarding an asteroid potentially striking Los Angeles.

A blinding flash of light streaked across the Russian sky, followed by a shuddering blast strong enough to damage buildings and send more than 1,000 people to the hospital. On the morning of February 15, 2013, a 7,000-ton asteroid crashed into the Earth's atmosphere, exploded and showered fragments over a wide, snowy area near the Ural Mountains.

According to NASA, the Siberian Meteor exploded with the power of 30 Hiroshima bombs and was the largest object to burst in the atmosphere since the famous Tunguska event of 1908, also in Siberia. That time, there were few eyewitnesses or clues except for fifty miles of flattened, charred trees.

This time, the event was captured by countless digital dashboard cameras, which have lately become a common fixture in Russian autos and trucks. Within days, armed with this unprecedented crowd-sourced material, NOVA crews hit the ground in Russia along with impact scientists as they hunted for fragments from the explosion and clues to the meteor’s origin and makeup.

Advertisement

Their conclusions add up to a chilling picture of how close we came to a far worse disaster, which NOVA sets in perspective by looking back at much greater explosions in the past — from Tunguska to the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

"Meteor Strike" puts it all together and asks: Is our solar system a deadly celestial shooting gallery with Earth in the crosshairs? What are the chances that another, more massive asteroid is heading straight for us? Are we just years, months or days away from a total global reboot of civilization, or worse?

NOVA is on Facebook, and you can follow @novapbs on Twitter.

Your browser does not support this object. Content can be viewed at actual source page: http://video.kpbs.org/video/2344107964

Watch Meteor Strike Preview on PBS. See more from NOVA.

On the morning of February 15, 2013, a 7,000-ton asteroid crashed into the Earth’s atmosphere, exploded and fell to earth across a wide swath near the Ural Mountains. The Siberian meteor was captured by digital dashboard cameras, a common fixture in Russian cars and trucks. Within days, armed with this crowd-sourced material, NOVA crews, along with impact scientists, hit the ground in Russia to hunt for debris from the explosion and clues to the meteor’s origin and makeup. Is our solar system a deadly celestial shooting gallery — with Earth in the crosshairs? What are the chances that another, even more massive, asteroid is heading straight for us? Are we just years, months or days away from a total global reboot of civilization, or worse?
Your browser does not support this object. Content can be viewed at actual source page: http://video.kpbs.org/video/1506748851

Watch Asteroid on PBS. See more from NOVA scienceNOW.

Will a doomsday rock the size of the Rose Bowl hit the Earth in 2036?