Asteroids: life savers or destroyers? Scientists in conversation!

Asteroids: life savers or destroyers? Scientists in conversation!

On April 28, 2025 in Frankfurt a. M. offers exciting insights into geosciences and international relations. The Goethe University is hosting the science talk “Knowledge Tapped”, which will take place on Tuesday, May 6th at 7:30 p.m. in the Café/Restaurant Pastel, Lindleystraße 15. The guests include the geoscientist Frank Brenker and the political scientist Lisbeth Zimmermann.

Frank Brenker, director of the Schwiete Cosmochemistry Laboratory, will discuss the influence of asteroids on life on Earth. He examines rock samples from space that could provide important clues about the formation of our planet and the origins of life. Lisbeth Zimmermann, on the other hand, focuses on the UN as a peace institution and discusses current challenges in international relations.

Musical setting and future events

The evening will be accompanied musically by the male quartet 4xDelay. That's not all, another science talk will follow on Wednesday, June 4th, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kunstverein Familie Montez, Honsellstrasse 7. The neurologist Christian Kell, who deals with the cultural brain, language and music, and the legal scientist Andrea Kießling, who will talk about state responsibility with regard to health protection, are expected there. The pianist Lorenzo Huthmacher will also provide musical entertainment here. The event will be moderated by cabaret artist Britta Hoffmann.

The events are organized in collaboration with the friends and supporters of Goethe University.

International Day of Asteroids and Planetary Defense

The Science Talk coincides with International Asteroid Day, celebrated by the United Nations since its inception on June 30, 2020. On this day, worldwide attention is drawn to the risks of near-Earth objects (NEOs). The European Space Agency (ESA) emphasizes the importance of planetary defense, which aims to better understand and combat potential asteroid threats. ESA Director General Jan Wörner pointed out the need to develop measures to defend against asteroid impacts and to undertake coordinated international efforts to achieve this.

Several ESA planetary defense activities are currently on the agenda, including the Hera validation mission, which will fly to a pair of Didymos asteroids in 2024. This mission is part of the broader AIDA project, which deals with the study of binary asteroid systems. A variety of initiatives, including NASA's DART mission, have been launched to test asteroid deflection. In addition, the Flyeye space telescope is being further developed in Italy to search the sky for dangerous asteroids.

Asteroid dangers and their consequences

Asteroids are remnants from the time when the solar system was formed and could have contributed significantly to the emergence of life on Earth. Although large asteroid impacts are rare, smaller asteroids can still cause significant damage. One example is the 2013 Chelyabinsk event, in which an asteroid broke up in Earth's atmosphere and caused devastating explosions.

ESA currently monitors more than 36,000 asteroids classified as near-Earth, with around 1,700 of these objects on a risk list that is regularly updated. ESA's newly established Planetary Defense Office aims to not only understand the position and movements of these NEOs, but also to estimate the probability of impacts, as well as inform emergency response and develop methods to deflect asteroids.

Overall, the efforts of ESA and other international organizations are of great importance for the security of our planet in the face of the cosmic threats posed by asteroids. The upcoming events in Frankfurt will help raise awareness of these issues and create dialogue about the challenges and opportunities presented by the potential threat.