In 2013, a house-sized asteroid exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, with the force of 30 atomic bombs. A century earlier, an asteroid impact flattened 830 square miles of Siberian forest. And while Hollywood loves to dramatize asteroid threats, the real work of planetary defense isn’t happening in action movies—it’s happening in research labs.

At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a team of scientists is racing against time to track, deflect, and prepare for the next asteroid threat. They’re using cutting-edge simulations, kinetic impact tests, and global collaborations to ensure Earth is ready before disaster strikes. In this episode, we uncover how planetary defense has evolved from theory to reality—why asteroid threats are more real than most people think—and what it will take to stop a civilization-ending impact.

Because the next asteroid isn’t a question of if—but when.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series. 

Executive Produced by Lacey Peace and Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle. 

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle. 

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell. 

Narrated by Matthew Powell. 

Video Production by Levi Hanusch. 

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance): 

• Jason Pearl, Physicist at the Planetary Defense Group, LLNL
• Megan Bruck Syal, Former Leader of the Planetary Defense Program, LLNL
• Katie Kumamoto, Leader of the Planetary Defense Program, LLNL

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.