Incoming!

Length: 25 min
Appropriate for: Grades 6-12
Languages: Closed Captions available in over a dozen languages, including Spanish and Chinese

Asteroids, Comets, and the Hard-Hitting Stories of Our Cosmic Origins
Scientists aren't waiting for asteroids and comets to come to us to learn more about them—get an up-close look at spacecraft sent to rocky asteroids and icy comets to collect invaluable data. You’ll follow the trek of the Chelyabinsk meteor as it entered the Earth's atmosphere in 2013 and visualize major shifts in the history of the Solar System billions of years in the making—and all in under an hour.

• Impact sites on Earth inform us of the role that asteroids, comets, and meteorites played in the formation of our planet.
• By studying these objects, we are refining our understanding of how our solar system came to be.
• Scientists are finding new ways to track potential cosmic threats before they reach us, preventing future impacts on our planet.

Disciplinary Core Idea: ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth 

Crosscutting Concept: Stability and Change

Science and Engineering Practice: Constructing Explanations

Performance Expectation: HS-ESS1-6. Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history. See Evidence Statement.