Incoming! (Grades 3-12)

Duration: Approximately 35 minutes

Exploring the smallest objects in our interplanetary neighborhood—asteroids, comets, and dwarf planets—helps us piece together the history of the Solar System.

We have learned that our planet inhabits a special place in the Universe. Impacts on Earth may have led to the demise of the dinosaurs—opening up opportunities for our mammalian ancestors—but they may also have helped create the conditions for life billions of years ago. And the changing orbits of our planets likely cleared out many of the objects that would have spelled disaster for the development of complex life on our planet.

Although future asteroid impacts could alter life’s story we know that the our planetary system is relatively clear of such threats, and we are developing the means to identify—and contend with—the threats that do exist.