What Are The Odds Of An Asteroid Wiping Out Life On Earth?

If an object falls nearby, it zooms faster than the speed of sound. The blast is brutal. The noise seems like rolling thunder. The phenomenon was gigantic. We are looking at 26 craters formed through one single event. At every minute, there is a chance of making the discovery of the century. Over half a million asteroids have been found. My hope is to find a meteorite that tells us we are not alone in the universe. To display such an enormous amount of Earth instantly at the snap of one's fingers seems unbelievable. Our solar system is full of large fragments of rock flying through space. Occasionally some of them hit our planet with devastating effects on the surface of the Earth. Is it possible that life on Earth could become extinct due to the impact of a large asteroid, destroying our civilization, along with many of the species that currently inhabit the Earth? What is the connection between asteroids and each one of us? We travel through Argentina, Chile and Colombia, following the path of these cosmic travelers that sleep quietly for thousands and millions of years, roaming through the solar system until they are attracted by the Earth's gravity. We will accompany enthusiastic hunters of meteorites who devote their lives to unravel the secrets of these extraterrestrial rocks. We begin our journey to discover the mysteries of asteroids and meteorites in the district of Goncito, Argentina. This is a peaceful town with less than 10,000 inhabitants. This quiet landscape was radically disrupted around 4,000 years ago, when a large asteroid, weighing around 800 tons, disintegrated as it entered the Earth's atmosphere, creating a shower of meteorites that rained down across this area, destroying everything in its path. Stories from indigenous people of the area tell of a cataclysm that came from the heavens. The origin of these legends was lost in time, until traces of the apocalypse were discovered. Several meteorites were found scattered around Campo de Siela, across an area of about 20,000 square kilometers. This is where the second largest meteorite in the world, known as El Chaco, was found. Its mass is over 81,000 pounds, equivalent to three city buses. This area is part of a natural park that seeks to protect this valuable legacy, which is proof of the danger which asteroids, roaming around the solar system, could pose for life on Earth. 4,000 years after the great explosion, we travel through the area with two researchers who have carefully studied the event in order to get an image of this violent episode in the history of the American continent. Throughout the years, thousands of fragments of various sizes have been recovered near this site. From the width of the crater, it's estimated that the meteor that crashed here had a diameter of around 4 meters. It weighed around 60 tons. Some of that mass scattered around these craters, while some of it evaporated at impact. The phenomenon was gigantic. I mean, we're talking 26 craters formed through one single event. We are speaking of the release of massive amounts of energy. To display such enormous volumes of Earth instantly, at the snap of one's fingers, seems unbelievable. Six of the meteorite craters show impacts that release two kilotons of energy. We have to bear in mind that the atomic bomb that fell in Hiroshima was below one megaton. Here, if we add the 26 craters together, the energy released was well over a megaton. Now, we are in the first crater that was discovered, crater number one, which we call La Cañada. In this crater, we had to do extra work because it was surrounded by wiring. To make things worse, the wire was a kind that distorts our magnetic readings. So we had to work hard to remove all the wires and bits of nails, which we found buried or at the surface. This crater was so big, it took at least 15 days of hard work. This year, more work was done. We start early, then had to stop at midday because our instruments are disturbed by high temperatures. The measurements are good, so we resume in the evening to make the most of daylight. This is like a laboratory in open air. We can study these craters because the release of energy can be calculated in several ways. In the rest of the world, most craters are circular in shape. The mass that formed them is not localized as it is here. So we have a crater and the mass that formed it, so we can determine the impact that formed the crater. We can calculate that a body of such a size impacts the mass that formed it. This is how it impacted the ground and released this amount of energy. Through our scientific research, I think we have reached around 40% of knowledge. We still have missing information. In order to fully understand the phenomenon of Campos del Cielo, we have an estimate, but not the reality of the complete mass that crashed here. At a personal level, we should remember the people who were here and were pioneers in this place. I mean the local population. This is a harsh environment because there is a lot of wind from the north and high temperatures. Most of the local population has either gone or is elderly. They have been forgotten in a way. I think that nowadays it is easier for us, the younger scientists. We also make sacrifices, but nowadays there are roads. Earlier people had none of this and they were the first to point out, look, there is something odd here, this is a unique phenomenon. And all of that should be remembered when we recognize the people that made this known. They could have cut down the trees, used this land for production and lost treasures that lay underneath. We've unraveled the mystery. And what you find is like a child of your own. Although around 50% of Campos del Cielo still needs to be studied, I hope we can do it ourselves. I mean, I hope we can continue to participate since it has been very meaningful, from a personal and professional level. In September of every year, the people of Goncito prepare to receive thousands of visitors who come and celebrate the National Festival of the Meteorite. I am 21 years old and I am studying to be a social worker. This is an important festival because in Chaco there are only two national festivals. This is one of them, the National Festivity of the Meteorite celebrated at Campos del Cielo. There was a shower, like a shower of fire. And that's why they call the area Field of the Skies. That's what the name means. This is an important national festival and one of a few we have in Chaco. It is motivating to have this festival here. It's important because it represents us locally. I am 8 years old and I was elected the Mini Meteor Queen in Goncito. I've lived in Goncito since 2012 and I will hand over my crown in 2013. All I know is that we have to parade and all that. Here the meteors fall and are shown here and something is written below. Their name, where they came from. And I was given this when I won. I got the cape and the throne. Remember we have to take all your stuff, your hairpins too, your shoes. We can't leave anything behind because we are going far. We'll finish your clothes since it's getting late. Are you ready? Okay, your hair should always be tidy. Stand straight. You have to wear your earrings. When you stand in front of the judges, what should you do? Show me how. Stand here and show me what you will do when you face the judges. The festivity of the meteorites started when Major Alberto Corovachu took office. When he saw that the meteorites were abandoned, he decided to create a park. That is how the Reserva Piwanonaxa was created, which means Campo del Cielo. And slowly it was fostered so that people would get to know about it. Not only in Goncito, but people from all provinces throughout Argentina and the world. Everyone should know there is a unique heritage here in Goncito because something big from outside Earth fell here, an extraterrestrial object. The festival is non-profit and whatever is earned is invested in the following year's festival. For actors, security, toilets, stage, sound, as well as the main group that closes the show. It attracts people and motivates people to come here and visit the park. Now we're in the exhibition room, which some people call the museum. This display only looks like this, with curtains and banners, on Saturday and Sunday during the two days of the festival. Here we have 133 pieces of different sizes and weights. At the Municipalidad there are also many more pieces, approximately 540 more fragments. The crater we have here was formed by the meteorite called El Chaco. Part of the stage is also like a piece of the crater, but some digging was done to place the seats. This festival may look like any other, but for us, we understand what a meteorite means for human history. And we protect these plants, the community and its people. It's important that this message is passed on, asking people to reconsider and reflect. Because otherwise, in 20 or more years, the last generation will be gone. And with it, a culture that cannot be recovered. Here in the north of Argentina, the poverty you can see is a cultural problem. No government has cared that teachers should be well paid and well trained. Since there may be a small part of society, let's say 5%, who are interested in what the meteorite means, in this geographical and historical area, it enhances the cultural heritage of the area. Where there are loggers who work hard, and their faces are a mixture of gringos and natives. These meteorites lying on earth for such a long time are a permanent question for citizens. We are children of the stars. We descend from the contents of the stars. So when we gaze at the unreachable beauty of the sky, by day and night, we feel that we are insignificant within the constellation. But one is born with a star. And there is always a star behind human decisions. And we feel there was a time when we were part of that movement of the stars. There is a magic wand in the heavens that has pointed us, so we will light the way with words. With the necessary light for those who walk. The Atacama Desert is home to some of the best preserved pieces of meteorites in the world. We accompany astronomer and winner of the National Award for Space, Jose Maza, in search of a huge majestic crater that resulted from the impact of a celestial object. A meteorite is an object that strikes the ground. A meteor is an object that crosses the atmosphere. And a meteoroid is an object that is circulating around the solar system. We have all experienced, during a storm, a flash of lightning. And 10, 15, 18 seconds later, one hears thunder, because sound travels much slower than light. If an object falls nearby, it comes at such high speed that it is faster than the speed of sound. And then there will be an explosion, a shockwave. In Siberia, it lasted three months. Astronomers discovered the first asteroid circulating between Mars and Jupiter in 1801. Since then, over half a million asteroids have been discovered. But most asteroids measure over one kilometer. Well, if such an asteroid fell on Earth, it would have terrible consequences. So there are observatories in Hawaii, Sagra, and other places, devoted to finding any near-Earth objects which might threaten us in the future. It is estimated that every 100 million years, a very large object may strike Earth, producing climate change, lasting thousands of years, and killing most of the living species. The last occasion was 65 million years ago. We could believe the people who think we still have 35 million years to go, but there is no certainty about this issue. Even tomorrow, a very large object could fall. Astronomers are watching the sky, and we can assure people that there is no object larger than one kilometer that is threatening the future of Earth for the next 50 years. This is a beautiful crater, well preserved. It's a crater that corresponds to an object that was not too large. Experts say that the object that fell here may have measured around 13 meters. But 13 meters, at the speed of impact, produced this terrible devastation, which can still be seen today. The crater is spectacular. I had seen it in books, but to see it here, on this natural scenery, is really extraordinary. I calculate that around 20,000 tons of rock were displaced here. 20,000 tons of rock were blown away in the blast caused by the meteorite's impact. It's a large amount of rock to move, and you would need a brutal amount of energy to move it. And this was a stone that fell from the sky, was buried here, and produced this enormous crater, which is very well preserved in this landscape. Well, every day our planet Earth is bombarded by over a ton of small residual matter, which we see in the night sky as shooting stars. Occasionally, some of these fragments reach the Earth's surface, but they are very difficult to tell apart from the rest of the ground. But here, south of the Salar de Atacama, it is easier to see them than in other places. We travel 125 miles north of the crater of Monteraki, towards the village of San Pedro de Atacama. Here, we meet a meteorite hunter who has gathered an impressive collection of thousands of these extraterrestrial rocks. My name is Rodrigo Martinez, and I'm the manager of this museum, the Meteorite Museum. It started with a collection, around the 80s, when my brother Edmundo was doing his thesis on meteorites. I used to go along with him on these expeditions as a young boy. I was very eager, and he passed on to me this passion to look for meteorites, and the importance of meteorites in the formation of our solar system, on the formation of planetary systems. How are you, Lorenz? In the end, it's like doing astronomy, but looking towards the ground. That is what is peculiar about this kind of astronomy. Well, since those days, which was about 27 years ago, I have gathered a collection of 3,500 to 3,600 pieces. Among the remarkable pieces in this collection, we could look first at the Carbonaceous. I am a marine biologist, so I like this particular meteorite, because it speaks about life. It traveled from a belt of asteroids, from an area where rich bodies of carbon were formed, and then, well, life is based on carbon. They bring organic complexes of different kinds, among which the most important are amino acids, the structural building blocks for proteins. I think that the Meteorite Museum here in San Pedro de Atacama is very interesting for people who are not acquainted with the subject. It shines a light on meteorites, and perhaps on the origin of life in the solar system. If the landscape of San Pedro de Atacama is impressive in itself, to learn how the whole system was formed, all these rocks one sees here, sometimes very simple, but they bring a whole story behind them. It is very interesting. To go out in search of meteorites is an adventure full of adrenaline. In my particular case, my hope is to find a meteorite that tells us we are not alone in the universe. The evidence of life. In other words, I would like to find a meteorite that comes along with a marshmallow. Tomorrow we will go out on a hunt for meteorites. Nearby, there are areas that are perfect for searching meteorites, and we will see if we can find one. This is my passion, to go out in the fields, particularly to places that I have not explored. That is the most exciting part about the search for meteorites. Looking for meteorites is an activity that I find very entertaining. At every minute, there is a chance of making the discovery of the century. On the other hand, there is the adventure of going around these vast landscapes, hopefully with no mobile phones or anything else of that sort nearby. There is just you and the desert. The Atacama Desert is rich in meteorites, not because they fall here more frequently than in other places in the world, but they are better preserved in time. This accumulation in the long run turns this area into an area with higher concentration. Well, look right here. We have a plateau that looks like a good place to start searching. There is a light substratum with few rocks. Well, very similar to a meteorite seen from afar, but it is volcanic lava. It is a very light rock with dents and of a porous material. It is certainly not a meteorite. It happens very often. In fact, most of the times there are dark rocks that we think might be a meteorite, but on closer inspection, one realizes that they are earthly rocks. Look, there on the back, you can see a rock with the features we are looking for. A dark color, rounded edges. This rock has good features. Well, it seems we have found one. We will measure its magnetic attraction. We are detecting iron, right? Softly, very faintly. This small piece of rock comes from the asteroid belt and is a remainder of the early periods when the solar system was formed. Rodrigo tells us that these types of meteorites are very fragile. They usually break up at 30 kilometers of altitude. Therefore, it is likely that there are other fragments scattered in the surroundings. We have found a third fragment, around 300 meters away from the first one, where the truck is. And 100 meters away from the second piece, where the jacket is. The mass starts to decrease. We have the first finding in the truck, which must be a meteorite of around 300 grams. The second one weighs around 150 grams. And this third one probably doesn't weigh more than 25 or 30 grams. The information that these rocks carry is fundamental. That is the essence of my passion. The fact that in these bodies one can find the original information regarding our solar system. Above all, in the case of chondrites, in the protoplanetary nebula that has just condensed and is frozen for 4.5 billion years, traveling through space, suddenly it reaches the orbit of the Earth and crashes. In this search for life in a meteorite, the most likely place to find life would be in a Martian meteorite of a sedimentary origin. A rock coming from Mars, which falls on Earth, but this is a rock conglomerate, formed through sedimentary processes, similar to those on Earth. That is where we could expect to find life. The last stretch of our journey in search of the marvels behind asteroids and meteorites takes us outside the city of Cali, in Colombia. On the afternoon of July 6, 2007, a great ball of fire crossed the center of the valley of Cauca. It generated a huge blast and earthquakes felt by the inhabitants. Here we are north of Cali, near a district called Yumbo, which we can see from here. We are going towards another district, perhaps the second or third largest district in the valley, which is Buga. This is the road to Buga. In the two million years that humans have inhabited the Earth, no event of this magnitude has ever been recorded, one the size that occurred 65 million years ago. But there are always minor events that remind us that we are facing this permanent risk. Some say we shouldn't lose any sleep over it, nor should it become an obsession, since, in the end, there are many risks that we are exposed to. When we speak of meteorites or asteroids, comets, the impact of these extraterrestrial bodies on Earth, we are speaking at an entirely different level. The damage caused can be at a world level, at a planetary level, and we are not exempted from these impacts. The history of geology in the planet shows that in the last 4.5 million years, many events have occurred, such as catastrophic meteorites falling. Each one of them swept away a large percentage of living species on Earth. Marino and a group of colleagues traveled through this area in search of men and women who had observed this phenomenon. Years after the event, we try to find witnesses of the impact. Nice to meet you, Marino. We were building my house and waiting for the arrival of some material for filling. Suddenly, around 4pm, one of the workers was startled by something passing above us. So then, of course, we all turned around. There were four of us. But it was a strange object. Since it was coming at the speed of an aircraft. Normally, you see a plane about this size. This object was coming, and it was around this size, at great speed. When we turned around, we saw a big light flashing by. It had black smoke and a shining piece in front. But its speed was too great. So it caught our attention and we stared until we lost sight of it. And a few moments later, there was a blast. Like thunder. It was like a thunder but repeated several times. A strong echo. Well, we are gathering witnesses about the ball of fire that crossed here on July 6, 2007. Do you remember that event? Well, since I'm in the business of music, I was not in town that day. But when I got here, the following day, there was havoc. People saying that the earth had shaken and a big blast had been heard. With my mother and a friend, we decided to go up toward the mountain and take a look. It had rained. The soil is red here and it had rained a lot. And then we saw several pieces of stone around, so I decided to test it with a magnet. It was a black piece of stone and it stuck to the magnet, so I picked it up. I have about a pound of it. I'll ask my wife where it is and I'll bring it back. If you test it with a magnet, it sticks right away. We were terrified because we thought it was, well, so many things that one hears about. It's a meteor. No, it wasn't. A flying saucer that burnt, throwing smoke. So much nonsense. Well, the issue has died down now, for many years, until you've turned up here, six years later. The meteorite that fell in Colombia not only placed the inhabitants of the rural areas on the alert. Towards the southwest of Cali, several houses were hit by small pieces of rock which went through the roofs. It was a fortuitous and almost mortal encounter with extraterrestrial fragments that traveled millions of miles until they hit the homes of several inhabitants in Cali. I was on the ground floor, taking a nap after lunch, when my husband said, look what was thrown, a stone. Some boys over there, from that street. I said, how strange, isn't it? So I placed it into a bag and thought, there is a policeman over there, who is a friend. So I said, as soon as he comes, I'll tell him. And my husband said, come on, what can we say to the police officer? Well, he didn't know about meteorites either. So later on, my son came and he said, mother, this was a meteorite. Yes, there were around two of some size. The rest were very small, around five of them. It was very exciting to see them again, to remember all the work we did in those days and all the things we learned. Meteorites don't fall on a city, nor on houses, every day. It was an amazing event, which caught us all by surprise. But the work we did on the following days was very important, because a lot was learned regarding an event involving meteorites. All the mysteries held by the universe, the immensity of the cosmos, the depth of the stars. It is interesting because astronomy connects with many areas of knowledge. Therefore, it allows us to have a more extensive knowledge about science, nature, the universe and our environment. The fascination of observing the sky, observing the stars, to observe through a telescope objects that are millions of light-years away, but we can see them as if they were right next to us. Besides, all these objects are like our kin, our companions, since ultimately we are all sharing the same universe.