It's an asteroid bash and an asteroid smash this week on planetary radio. I'm Sarah Al Ahmed of the Planetary Society with more of the human adventure across our

solar system and beyond. Every year on June 30th the the space community marks asteroid day, the United Nations

sanctioned day of public awareness about the risk of asteroid impacts.

Marcus Payer, Asteroid Foundation Chair, is going to join us to talk about this year's Asteroid Day festivities.

And where are we in our journey to protect our planet from asteroid impacts?

We'll get an update on the results of the first Kinetic Impactor test with Terric Daily, a member of the double asteroid

redirection test or Dart mission team.

And of course, we can't bring our dear Bruce Betts, chief scientist of the planetary society

back on for what's up without getting an update on our shoemaker near-Earth object grant program winners.

Their efforts to save the world from dangerous asteroid impacts continue.

And happy solstice to everyone around the world. June 20th was the longest or

shortest day of the year depending on what hemisphere you live in. I hope you're all having a wonderful beginning of

winter in the south and a beautiful beginning of summer in the

northern hemisphere.

If you love planetary radio and want to stay informed about the latest space discoveries, make

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know the Cosmos and are placed within it.

So why do we celebrate asteroid day? Here's a message from Arde Hallamani,

director of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.

Good Morning, good afternoon, and good evening to all. Established in December 2016 by the United Nations General Assembly,

the 30th of June was declared as International

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