Eugene Shoemaker

Every year, millions of asteroids and comets or "stray bullets" streak through the skies, and tons of small meteorites strike our planet! Some 65 million years ago, dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the earth, in what many believe was the aftermath of a massive cosmic collision. Could something like this happen again? Scientists believe that the impact of an asteroid only a mile wide would be globally catastrophic. Join extraordinary geologist Eugene Shoemaker and his wife Carolyn who have remapped the heavens with their discoveries of more than 30 comets and hundreds of asteroids. Now that we know what's out there, how can we defend ourselves?

Computer animation and footage from NASA space missions explain how our solar system evolved and the place Earth has within the system.