LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Experts in science and planetary defense, led by Astrophysicist and Musician Brian May and Lord Martin Rees in the UK, and Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society, Ryan Wyatt, Director of the Morrison Planetarium and veteran astronauts Rusty Schweickart, Ed Lu and Tom Jones in the US, will hold a joint UK-US press conference to announce Asteroid Day 2015, and to release the 100x Declaration to protect the future of our planet from asteroid impacts.

Lord Rees will read the 100x Declaration, whose signers include: Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins, Alan Eustace, Steward Brand, Shervin Pishevar, Jane Luu, Peter Norvig and more than 38 astronauts and cosmonauts. A full list of signatories will be released at the Press Conference.

WHEN: 3 December 2014

WHERE/TIME:

RSVP to: pr@asteroidday.org for links to audio and video, as well as to schedule one-on-one interviews.

SPEAKERS

USA: California Academy of Sciences (CAS)

• Dr. Tom Jones: Veteran US Shuttle Astronaut; Chairman, NEO Committee, Association of Space Explorers
• Dr. Ed Lu: Three-time US Shuttle Astronaut; Co-founder & CEO, Sentinel Mission
• Rusty Schweickart: US Apollo 9 Astronaut; Co-founder, Sentinel Mission
• Bill Nye, CEO, The Planetary Society
• Dr. Ryan Wyatt, Director, Morrison Planetarium & Science Visualization, CAS

UK: The Science Museum, London

• Dr. Brian May: Astrophysicist, Musician & Lead Guitarist for Queen
• Lord Martin Rees: Astronomer Royal, Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, and Honorary Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge

ASTEROID DAY is scheduled for 30 June 2015, the anniversary of the Tunguska, Siberia asteroid impact. Founding Partners of Asteroid Day include The Planetary Society, Association of Space Explorers, STARMUS, Sentinel Mission, Astronomy Magazine, California Academy of Sciences, Museum of Flight and others to be announced.

Additional information, photos and video will be available at http://www.asteroidday.org on December 3.