The film Armageddon is fiction; it suggests that humanity was in mortal danger until heroic actions saved us. Did you know that there are people who observe and secure improved orbits for near-Earth asteroids EVERY DAY? Their efforts have eliminated the chances of an extinction-level asteroid impact with Earth over the next 100 years or so. Did the film spur action that helped achieve this incredible decrease in risk? Was this due to increased public consciousness of the risk?

Join us on September 27th at Chicago’s Columbia College’s Film Row Cinema to hear from two people who approach informing the public in two very different ways: Robert Roy Pool, the story writer for the movie Armageddon, and Dr. Mark Hammergren, an astronomer who works in asteroid avoidance and a frequent science adviser for movies and TV series. Moderated by the Adler’s and Planetary Society’s Andy de Fonseca, they will discuss how the entertainment industry and fiction could be a tool in explaining science, how science is portrayed in the entertainment industry, how they get the science right (and wrong), and what IS the real science of asteroid collisions.

Featured guests: Robort Roy Pool and Mark Hammergren, PhD

Moderator: Andy de Fonseca