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Doomsday Asteroid, The
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Program Overview
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What would happen if an asteroid the size of a mountain crashed into
the surface of the Earth? Many astronomers believe that an enormous
asteroid crashed into the Earth 65 million years ago, causing such
destruction that at least two-thirds of all species on the
planet-including dinosaurs-became extinct. Although such large
collisions are extremely rare, thousands of small pieces of material
from outer space land on Earth each year. This episode of NOVA
investigates the rocky material that circulates in the solar
system—comets and asteroids—and considers the likelihood
of such an object striking our planet.
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