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NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test -

On September 26, 2022 at 23:14 UTC, NASA made history. For the first time ever, they managed to hit and deflect an asteroid's course.

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NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test -

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test was launched from Earth in November 2021. The impact occurred nearly a year later, and proved to be a successful method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects.

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NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test -

A television at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, shows the moment the minor-planet moon Dimorphos is hit by NASA's probe on September 26, 2022.

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Hollywood -

While Dimorphos didn't really pose a risk to Earth, some asteroids might in the future. Hollywood has been exploring this possibility for years, and many movies have been made about it. Now, let's take a look at some of these films.

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'When Worlds Collide' (1951) -

This 1951 movie is based on Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer’s 1932 science fiction novel 'When Worlds Collide.'

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'When Worlds Collide' (1951) -

Unlike some other movies about asteroids, in this one there is no way to escape Earth's fate. 'When Worlds Collide' focuses on what happens to a group of survivors who build a spaceship and try to escape doomsday.

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'The Monolith Monsters' (1957) -

Life changes completely for the residents of a small town in Arizona when a meteorite falls in the area.

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'The Monolith Monsters' (1957) -

The space rock leaves hundreds of black fragments, which turn into giant crystals when exposed to water.

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'The Day the Sky Exploded' (1958) -

'The Day the Sky Exploded' is credited as the first science fiction movie made in Italy.

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'The Day the Sky Exploded' (1958) -

A group of scientists discover that a number of meteors are on a collision course with Earth. The solution? Using nuclear weapons to destroy them.

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'The Phantom Planet' (1961) -

A group of astronauts land on an asteroid, only to get shrunk by the celestial body's atmosphere.

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'The Green Slime' (1968) -

A group of scientists manages to destroy an asteroid, but they bring back a strange substance to Earth.

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'The Green Slime' (1968) -

Then the green substance turns into a monster and all hell breaks loose!

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'Moon Zero Two' (1969) -

This movie is essentially about a group of criminals who try to hijack a valuable asteroid made of sapphire.

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'Moon Zero Two' (1969) -

Interestingly, this film, which was billed as a space Western in the US, is set in the year 2021.

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'Meteor' (1979) -

This movie, starring Sean Connery and Natalie Wood, sees the US and the USSR joining forces to save the world from an asteroid on the way to Earth.

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'Meteor' (1979) -

The two superpowers put their differences aside and manage to destroy the threat using missiles.

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'Night of the Comet' (1984) -

Okay, it's not an asteroid, but it comes close! A comet not only strikes Earth, wiping out virtually all life, but it also brings cannibal zombies to our planet.

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'Night of the Comet' (1984) -

It's then up to two Valley Girls, played by Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney, to fight them!

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'Deep Impact' (1998) -

As you'll see, 1998 was a good year for this film subgenre. 'Deep Impact' sees a comet on a collision course with Earth.

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'Deep Impact' (1998) -

The movie features really impressive special effects, including a megatsunami hitting the East coast of the US.

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'Armageddon' (1998) -

'Armageddon' was the second doomsday movie to come out in 1998, and indeed became an international box-office hit.

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'Armageddon' (1998) -

The movie is essentially about a group of drillers who are sent by NASA to destroy a huge asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth.

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'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' (2012) -

This movie, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, sees a man being left by his wife and taking a road trip with a neighbor to go see his high school sweetheart.

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'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' (2012) -

Of course, there is an asteroid on collision course with Earth, which threatens to obliterate the planet!

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'Ice Age: Collision Course' (2016) -

This is the fifth movie in the Ice Age animated film franchise.

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'Ice Age: Collision Course' (2016) -

The story is essentially about a group of animals trying to stop an asteroid from hitting Earth.

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'Don’t Look Up' (2021) -

The last movie on our list is from 2021 and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence playing two astronomers trying to warn humankind about doomsday.

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'Don’t Look Up' (2021) -

The two go on a media campaign to warn the world that an asteroid is on collision course with Earth, and that it will destroy the planet. 

Sources: (Creepy Catalog) 

See also: What is the Doomsday Clock?

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