An asteroid tracking programme in Hawaii has been dubbed the “Earth’s Last Defence” against potentially catastrophic impacts, the UN has heard ahead of International Asteroid Day marked annually on 30 June.  

Ari Heinz is an astronomer at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy working on the NASA-supported ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) project which tracks small but dangerous asteroids which may strike Earth.

He was interviewed as part of an International Labour Organization (ILO) project which is documenting the working life of Americans across the United States.

The Director of the ILO’s Office for the United States, Kevin Cassidy, sat down with Ari Heinz to find out more about his job