Why can asteroids inspire us endlessly? Why has it been so popular in science fiction works for so long? What other surprises can it bring us?
Artist's illustration of the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs . It left a 124-mile-wide crater on our planet's surface. (Credit: Andrzej Wojcicki; Getty Images)
Long before science fiction, people were fascinated (and horrified) by the prospect of space rocks falling towards Earth, but why?
One obvious explanation is that asteroids have fallen to Earth many times, sometimes with catastrophic consequences (such as the extinction of the dinosaurs). But there are currently no asteroids that pose an imminent threat to crash into Earth and cause disaster. While planetary defense experts monitor near-Earth asteroids, the vast majority of space rocks either miss us entirely or are so small that they burn up completely as they pass through the atmosphere.
In fact, in order to prevent asteroids from posing a threat to the earth, NASA announced a plan. Later this month, NASA launched the DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirection Test), which will launch a spacecraft to impact an asteroid satellite to verify whether it is possible to change the target's direction. Neither space rock will orbit close to Earth, but the test was designed to demonstrate whether such technology could be used to alter the orbit of a threatening asteroid in the future.
However, this is just a contingency plan to deal with a small probability event. But countless novels, books, movies, and television shows continue to focus on this possible catastrophe. From the movie " The Day After Tomorrow " to " Doomsday Escape " and "Armageddon" filled with explosive art, the routine of "asteroids destroying the earth" has become outdated. But people's enthusiasm for asteroids has never diminished. This is confirmed by the movie "Don't Look Up" that will be broadcast on Netflix and the movie "The Fall of the Moon" that will be released in theaters.
"Don't Look Up" will premiere on Netflix on December 10. In the film, two young astronauts try to warn humans that a comet is on the way to destroy the earth. Even though it's not an asteroid, "space rock threatens to destroy humanity," is the crux of this sci-fi fixation.". In the movie "Moonfall," which will be released in theaters in February 2022, things have changed a bit. It is about the moon, not an asteroid, that threatens to hit the earth.
But this trend is smaller than contemporary Action movies are still far behind 1958's "The Day the Sky Burns" and 1968's "Gamma 3". Movies such as "Space Wars" are classics in early science fiction works that depict the threat of asteroids. Even earlier, science fiction writers like Isaac Asimov also spent a lot of time describing it in their works. Asteroids, in fact, dates back to 1985 in Robert Cormier's novel. "The End of the World" contains the author's early portrayal of the asteroid belt
Science inspired the novel
Astronomer Amy Mainz was the scientific consultant for the film "Don't Look Up". She is a NASA Near-Earth Object Broadcaster. field infrared survey The principal investigator of the NEOWISE mission, which specializes in studying the characteristics of asteroids and comets. Why are sci-fi works full of asteroid impact disasters? She gave her own opinion on why people are interested in asteroids.
"Asteroids are very fascinating objects from a scientific point of view," Mainz told Space.com. "Their movement indicates that we are in an active solar system and our place in the universe."
“The universe is not a static, unchanging place. It's very active, there's stuff happening all the time, and we're one of them," she added. "So I think in a lot of ways, the asteroid is kind of reminding us of that."
Mainz said that although not all movies currently follow this routine, at least the scene presented to the audience in "Don't Look Up" illustrates "the importance of scientific decision-making... The core of this movie tells us about scientific decision-making in life." importance".
The Evolution of Fiction about the Asteroid Threat
Throughout the early 20th century, asteroids began to appear in the media as scientists came to understand the reality of the asteroid belt and the space rocks that "lived" there. But it wasn't until the 1950s that stories about asteroid disasters became popular.
The birth of science fiction themes was accompanied by a special turbulent period in American history. After the outbreak of the atomic bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cold War raged, and the threat of nuclear war reached an unprecedented height. During this period, American schoolchildren often performed avoidance drills, hiding under desks and covering their heads to practice what to do if a nuclear bomb was dropped.
The asteroid impact event, like the attack by nuclear weapons , caused direct and catastrophic danger to a wide area, so it is not surprising that the asteroid disaster trope entered popular culture during that period.
Dylan Ross is a science fiction film and television critic who is dedicated to finding science fiction material in series such as "Star Trek". He told Space.com: "The earliest science fiction stories involving asteroids focused more on the planetary catastrophe they could cause than how they formed, but I think the situation may have changed after World War II, when people were trying to overcome their concerns about the planet. The fear of asteroids, which can plummet from the sky without warning and cause catastrophic consequences in an instant."
Human nature also plays a role in explaining our fascination with disaster.
Ross said, "I think there is a primitive narrative appeal to this idea. The meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs was the first 'evil' for life on earth. But without it there would be no us humans." I think some of us It feels like we should face and defeat the same threats as the dinosaurs to prove that we are worthy of being here. Maybe we are just symbolically avenging the dinosaurs."
Ross pointed out a more direct reason for the popularity of asteroid disasters. It’s its wonderful use as a plot device.
"It's also a simple and practical design in a science fiction disaster story," Ross said. "It's a devastating threat, and there's no will or malice behind it. You don't really have to sugarcoat it - it's just a rock from space, and there's no need for explanation. It speaks for itself. It has an immediate effect, and there is no need to add those wonderful things that will make some people lose interest in science fiction. Decoration. ”
So, as a useful plot device, asteroids both exist alongside real-world fears and play into our most basic, innate fears and feelings, will we ever stop filming asteroid disasters? Where is the film?
"I don't think we're going to stop telling stories about large asteroid impacts unless we can actually prevent it from happening (or if we can't prevent it, it will definitely work)," Ross said. "If asteroid defenses became a commonplace reality, it would kind of kill the romance of it. Then maybe we'd imagine bigger rocks hitting us (like Moonfall)"
BY: Chelsea Gohd
FY: TMON
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