Asteroid Day 2018;

On the occasion of the fifth Asteroid Day, Luxembourg will host a series of special events between 24-30 June 2019.

Asteroid Day, the official United Nations’ day of global awareness and education about asteroids, will celebrate its fifth anniversary on 30 June. What began as two live stream broadcasts in 2014, now includes thousands of independent events organised by citizens around the world on all five continents.  Asteroid Day global programmes, including Asteroid Day LIVE, are programmes of the Asteroid Foundation, a Luxembourg-based non-profit organisation. 

Asteroid Day was co-founded by astrophysicist and famed musician Dr. Brian May of the rock group QUEEN, Apollo 9 Astronaut Rusty Schweickart, filmmaker Grig Richters and B612 President Danica Remy to promote awareness and provide knowledge to the general public about the importance of asteroids in the formation of the universe and the role they play in today's solar system. Events are scheduled during the week of 30 June, the date of the largest asteroid impact of Earth in recorded history (Tunguska).

Luxembourg is a principal partner in Asteroid Day through the Luxembourg Space Agency, which is leading the SpaceResources.lu initiative. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy of Luxembourg Etienne Schneider has commented on this: “Asteroid Day supports the goals of the SpaceResources.lu initiative by educating the world about asteroids, space missions and what is possible within the emerging New Space economy.” 
 
Indeed, as part of a series of European and global events, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Education, SpaceResources.lu and National Museum of Natural History are organising activities throughout the country: 
 
27/06/2019: Technical Briefing with Asteroid Experts (by invitation)
28/06/2019: Asteroid Day LIVE Global Broadcast-Webcast, produced at RTL Studios
29/06/2019:  Astronaut and Asteroid Expert meet and greet (public)
29/06/2019: Gala Dinner in the Cercle Cité, Downtown Luxembourg (tickets on sale)
30/06/2019:  Asteroid Day at the National Museum of Natural History: Guided tours of the Meteorite Collection and “Universe” Exhibition; Public Lecture “Asteroids… can we deal with the danger?”; Asteroid Workshop for Youth
 
Asteroid Day LIVE, which debuted in 2017, will similarly return to Luxembourg this year. Produced by the Asteroid Foundation and broadcast live from the Broadcasting Centre Europe (BCE) studio at RTL City in Luxembourg, this is the first-ever global conversation about asteroids. In 2019, the event will see an expanded five days of online, broadcast and webcast content and commentary from international experts, five astronauts/cosmonauts, scientists, physicists, educators and government officials and special guests who serve as Asteroid Day ambassadors. This year will also include five Luxembourg-based space startup companies and five featured global independently organised Asteroid Day events from five different countries.
 
Asteroid Day LIVE from Luxembourg will be distributed via a dedicated satellite, available on local channels subscribing to the SES satellite network, and via the Asteroid Day website. Similarly, further information for public participation in the above events is available at AsteroidDay.org.