SXSW 2019
Redirecting an Asteroid: NASA & Planetary Defense
Description:
If an asteroid was on a collision course with Earth, how could we change its path? This isn’t just an imaginary Hollywood blockbuster crisis: Asteroids lurk in abundant numbers in our solar system, and can pose a threat to our planet. Should one ever potentially threaten us, we need to know how to effectively deflect such an object. NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) is humanity's first mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection by a kinetic impactor. Think of DART as a 13,000 MPH hammer that will knock the asteroid on a different course. Set to launch in 2022, DART will use technology developed to shoot down missiles to target and strike the asteroid, known as Didymos.
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Takeaways
- Is the threat of an asteroid hitting our planet real?
- Is hitting a hazardous asteroid with a spacecraft the best way to protect Earth?
- How will this help us protect the planet from asteroids and other objects?
Speakers
- Andy Cheng, DART Investigation Co-Lead, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- Andy Rivkin, DART Investigation Co-Lead, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- Elena Adams, DART Spacecraft Systems Engineer, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- Angela Stickle, DART Impact Modeling Working Group Lead, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Organizer
Geoffrey Brown, External Communications, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
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