Grounded in Arizona's unmatched asteroid legacy, Asteroid Day 2026 explores both the risks asteroids pose to our planet and the extraordinary opportunities they represent for science and exploration, June 26-27, Flagstaff, Arizona
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, a prize is awarded to a young scientist working on one of the most important problems our civilization faces: what to do about the rocks in space that could one day threaten life on Earth. The prize bears the name of Rusty Schweickart, which is fitting. More than perhaps anyone alive, Schweickart made that problem impossible to ignore.
In 1969, as an Apollo 9 astronaut, Schweickart floated in the void above Earth and saw the planet the way very few humans ever have: fragile, luminous, and utterly alone. The experience did not leave him. In the years that followed, he became one of the foremost advocates for planetary defense, co-founding B612 Foundation to advocate for and build the science, technology, and policies needed to detect and deflect asteroids before they can do what the rock that carved a mile-wide crater into the Arizona desert did some fifty thousand years ago.
On June 27, 2026, Schweickart and his twin sons, Randy and Rusty B. Schweickart, who serve as co-chairs of the prize, will gather in Flagstaff to hand the award that bears their family name to this year's recipient. The ceremony takes place in the shadow of the observatory where Pluto was discovered, within driving distance of the first proven and best preserved impact crater on Earth, Meteor Crater. He will be joined by four fellow astronauts, Arizona residents, and B612 supporters who have traveled from across the country for two days of science, celebration, and planetary defense.
