Epic doccie ‘Asteroid Hunters’: inside Earth’s defence against cosmic threats

As Earth hurtles through space at over 100,000km/h, a quiet but profound mission is underway — to shield our world from one of the most unpredictable yet potentially devastating cosmic events: an asteroid impact.

In an unprecedented collaboration, global scientists, emergency response leaders, and media innovators are joining forces to shine a spotlight on planetary defence — a co-ordinated, high-stakes effort to detect, track, and, if necessary, deflect near-Earth objects. Next week, Cape Town will become the epicentre of that conversation as it hosts an international conference (see below) aimed at raising awareness of both the science and the strategy behind this effort.

Planetary defence isn’t about scaring the public — it’s about being prepared. The goal is to identify and track asteroids and comets that come close to Earth’s orbit, analyse the risk they pose, and develop viable methods to prevent a potential impact. This includes early detection systems, international collaboration protocols, emergency response planning, and, if necessary, the deployment of spacecraft capable of deflecting or disrupting hazardous objects.

Among the global voices at the forefront is Leviticus A “LA” Lewis, an expert from the Federal Emergency Management Agency who has worked with NASA on planetary defence since 2010. From space weather to asteroid deflection scenarios, Lewis’s career has spanned the front lines of inter-agency planning and cosmic crisis mitigation.

“There are no current threats of that size to Earth,” Lewis says, referring to the kind of asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65-million years ago. “But even smaller objects could still cause catastrophic damage. Planetary defence is not about fear. It’s about readiness, communication, and safeguarding humanity’s future.”

To bring this message home, South African audiences will get a rare cinematic window into the science with a special screening of the IMAX documentary Asteroid Hunters on May 7 at 7.15pm at Ster-Kinekor IMAX at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town — book tickets via Quicket now. 

This film delivers an immersive, visually arresting journey into the global network tracking threats from above.

Writer and producer Phil Groves was compelled to make the film after reading about a planned asteroid deflection mission that never took flight. “I decided this would be the perfect subject for the IMAX format — and for the documentary world,” he says. “It was a subject that [people] needed to know more about.”

The project wasn’t just rooted in science, but also deep artistic exploration. “Phil’s also an artist,” adds co-creator David Hogan. “The two of us would draw endlessly in the planning of this — we basically made the film five or six times before ever rolling a frame of film.”

Those sketches and iterations weren’t just aesthetic exercises — they were part of an intense process of visual storytelling designed to both inform and move viewers. “The best way to discover the emotional weight of the subject was through drawing,” Hogan explains. “We built the story from the ground up, again and again.”

Groves’s first contact in the scientific community was sparked by a conversation with physicist Mark Boslough, who suggested reaching out to NASA’s Don Yeomans. Boslough, a leading voice on impact risk, has often pointed out that the greatest threat we face is underestimation. “Asteroids are nature’s way of reminding us that we are not in control,” he has said. “Most people think if we don’t see anything huge coming, we’re safe — but it’s the smaller, undetected ones that can surprise us, just like Chelyabinsk in 2013.” That meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere unnoticed and exploded over Russia, injuring over 1,500 people — a stark reminder of the stakes involved.

In many ways, Asteroid Hunters does what great cinema has always done — it turns invisible forces into something we can feel, something we can act on. It transforms the void of space into a stage for human ingenuity and global co-operation.

“This is a subject that affects all of us,” Groves emphasises. “We need to know what’s out there. We need to be ready.”

And in a world where headlines can often feel far removed from the stars above, Asteroid Hunters reminds us that sometimes, looking up is the most grounded thing we can do.

2025 Planetary Defense Conference 

The mission of the 2025 International Academy of Astronautics Planetary Defense Conference, on in Cape Town from May 5 to 9, is to bring together global experts — including scientists, engineers, policymakers, and disaster management professionals — to advance the understanding, detection, tracking, and mitigation of threats posed by near-Earth objects, specifically asteroids and comets.

It aims to foster international collaboration and co-ordination to protect Earth from potential impacts by developing and testing strategies for deflection or disruption of hazardous objects, while also improving public awareness and preparedness for such scenarios.

This article was sponsored by Independent Films.