Astronomers and physicists from some of the world's top institutions grappled with a dire scenario: an asteroid up to 1,300ft in diameter – big enough to cause epochal damage – was hurtling towards Earth, and the countries likely to be hit included some of the poorest and most unstable in the world.
These men, along with all the world's dedicated planetary defenders, are proud (and relieved) that the Big Question has evolved from what if a cataclysm-inducing space rock is aiming for us – we now know an impact is inevitable – to what will we do about it.
The European Space Agency had invited astronomers, physicists, nuclear engineers and mathematicians to discuss the slim possibility of a space rock smashing into Earth and causing regional damage or maybe even the end of civilization.
Asteroid impact was first identified by the late geologist Gene Shoemaker when he was examining lunar craters in the 1950s for the US space programme.
Geologists soon found a similar iridium layer at the same geological strata in other parts of the world and postulated that a catastrophic impact had occurred around the time the dinosaurs became extinct.
