1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,536 Adam Driver Asks NASA. 2 00:00:04,938 --> 00:00:05,972 Hi, I'm Adam Driver. 3 00:00:05,972 --> 00:00:07,607 I'm in a new movie called 65, 4 00:00:07,607 --> 00:00:11,071 where I play a space pilot who, 65 million years ago, 5 00:00:11,071 --> 00:00:13,346 crash lands on prehistoric Earth. 6 00:00:14,180 --> 00:00:16,649 Location unknown. 7 00:00:16,883 --> 00:00:18,515 I discover that an asteroid, 8 00:00:18,518 --> 00:00:22,919 the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, is headed for Earth. 9 00:00:33,633 --> 00:00:34,601 Send help. 10 00:00:35,468 --> 00:00:37,704 So my first question for NASA is, 11 00:00:37,704 --> 00:00:39,305 what if we found out that an asteroid 12 00:00:39,305 --> 00:00:41,441 like this were going to hit our planet today? 13 00:00:44,477 --> 00:00:46,479 Hi, Adam. I'm Kelly Fast. 14 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:47,480 I'm an astronomer, 15 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,326 and I manage the Near-Earth Object Observations Program 16 00:00:50,326 --> 00:00:52,942 in NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office. 17 00:00:53,219 --> 00:00:55,422 Well, the good thing is that we're really not 18 00:00:55,422 --> 00:00:58,892 that concerned about asteroids of that size. 19 00:00:59,192 --> 00:01:01,749 Those large ones — most of them have been found. 20 00:01:01,761 --> 00:01:03,329 They're easier to spot. 21 00:01:03,329 --> 00:01:04,697 There are fewer of them. 22 00:01:04,697 --> 00:01:09,289 But there are asteroids still left to be found that aren't that large, 23 00:01:09,302 --> 00:01:12,625 but still are of a size that could do damage should they impact. 24 00:01:12,639 --> 00:01:16,728 And so that's why NASA has a Planetary Defense Coordination Office. 25 00:01:16,743 --> 00:01:20,734 If an asteroid were discovered that were going to impact Earth, 26 00:01:20,734 --> 00:01:25,952 NASA's role would be to inform planning, to give information about the asteroid, 27 00:01:25,952 --> 00:01:28,388 about where the impact would happen, 28 00:01:28,388 --> 00:01:30,290 about what the effects might be, 29 00:01:30,290 --> 00:01:33,860 so that everyone would have the most up-to-date, 30 00:01:33,860 --> 00:01:36,529 accurate and expert information available. 31 00:01:37,130 --> 00:01:38,979 Last year, NASA sent a spacecraft 32 00:01:38,979 --> 00:01:42,435 to intentionally impact an asteroid as a test of technology. 33 00:01:42,435 --> 00:01:43,503 Would that work? 34 00:01:43,503 --> 00:01:47,419 Could that be an effective means of saving the planet from an asteroid? 35 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,575 NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, 36 00:01:50,575 --> 00:01:55,859 did successfully test a method of asteroid deflection, the kinetic impactor. 37 00:01:55,882 --> 00:01:58,618 And so DART showed that we do have technology 38 00:01:58,618 --> 00:02:01,121 for diverting an asteroid in space. 39 00:02:01,121 --> 00:02:03,590 But there is still a lot left to be done. 40 00:02:03,823 --> 00:02:06,192 Options for deflecting an asteroid 41 00:02:06,192 --> 00:02:09,770 or doing anything about an asteroid really depend on the asteroid — 42 00:02:09,796 --> 00:02:12,437 on its size, on its composition. 43 00:02:12,437 --> 00:02:16,108 But crucially, on the amount of time before the impact. 44 00:02:16,136 --> 00:02:18,037 They have to be discovered early 45 00:02:18,037 --> 00:02:20,206 in order to be able to do something about them. 46 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,748 NASA sent a spacecraft to a near-Earth asteroid recently to collect a sample. 47 00:02:24,777 --> 00:02:26,913 Why are scientists bringing that sample to Earth, 48 00:02:26,913 --> 00:02:28,314 and what do they hope to learn? 49 00:02:28,314 --> 00:02:32,321 NASA's first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, 50 00:02:32,352 --> 00:02:36,357 successfully collected pieces of an asteroid called Bennu 51 00:02:36,422 --> 00:02:38,625 to bring that sample back to Earth. 52 00:02:38,925 --> 00:02:41,728 Scientists are very interested in studying Bennu 53 00:02:41,728 --> 00:02:44,297 because it is largely unchanged 54 00:02:44,297 --> 00:02:46,566 since the formation of the solar system. 55 00:02:46,566 --> 00:02:49,462 And so scientists plan to study that sample 56 00:02:49,462 --> 00:02:51,703 to learn about the early solar system, 57 00:02:51,704 --> 00:02:56,042 to learn about the origins of organics and water, 58 00:02:56,042 --> 00:02:58,144 which are important for studying life on Earth. 59 00:02:58,778 --> 00:02:59,913 Well, this goes without saying, 60 00:02:59,913 --> 00:03:02,311 but thank you for your work in keeping the planet safe 61 00:03:02,315 --> 00:03:06,448 from world-ending asteroids plummeting into our planet.