Hey, space nerds.

Curious Universe is back.

This is a brand new episode.

I think you're really going to like it.

And just to let you know, this fall, we're trying something different.

Through the end of the year, we'll be back in your feeds once a month with a new adventure.

Now, sit back, strap on your astronaut helmet, and enjoy the show.

Three, two, one.

We have ignition and we have liftoff.

It's 2013 and just after sunrise on a cold February day in Cheliebinsk, Russia.

The sky is a dark blue. Snow is piled high on the rooftops.

A few cars meandered down the streets.

And dozens of miles above the town, a meteor the length of a six-story building is hurtling towards Earth.

Then it hits the atmosphere, exploding into tons of pieces.

The arc of red across the sky turns the dark morning as bright as midday.

In Cheliabinsk, cars screeched to a halt on the icy roads as all eyes turn to the sky.

The shockwave sets off car alarms and shatters windows across six cities injuring more than a thousand people.

Afterwards, NASA weather satellites detect a cloud of debris circling the entire globe.

The scariest part, no one had seen it coming.

A bigger asteroid could have wiped out the city.

The Chelyabinsk impactor, it really brought attention to the hazard that even small asteroids compose to us.

That's Joe Massaro, a scientist at Caltech who works with NASA to track near-Earth asteroids.

...