ASTEROID DAY

Asteroid Foundation is proud to host a Space Connects Us event with Asteroid Day Editorial Director Stuart Clark and Gianluca Masi of The Virtual Telescope Project here to answer the question everyone is asking –what’s so important about Asteroid 2001 FO32? Tune in as our speakers explain why astronomers and scientists alike are especially enthusiastic to see 2001 FO32 as it reaches its closest approach this weekend.

Asteroid Foundation and SnT (University of Luxembourg) joined forces to bring a special SpaceConnectsUs event on 29 October 2020. Speaker and Chair of the SmallSat Alliance, Charles Beames discusses the future of space entrepreneurship with the students of University’s Interdisciplinary Space Master’s program.

Dante Lauretta on OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa 2: Learning the Origins of Life This video short is from the 2020 Asteroid Day LIVE panel Ingredients of Life: Bringing Asteroid Samples to Earth. You can watch the full panel here: https://bit.ly/3jzH2gZ Dante Lauretta is an Asteroid Day Expert Panel Member and the primary investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission from the University of Arizona To read more about the panel, visit https://bit.ly/31JsNQD Asteroid Day is a dynamic awareness and educational program to inspire the world about asteroids – their role in the formation of our universe, how we can use their resources, how asteroids can pave the way for future exploration and finally how we can protect our planet from asteroid impacts.

Read about this segment on the blog: https://bit.ly/3inpzsn The latest asteroid news and updates from the European Space Agency hosted by award-winning science and space journalist Richard Hollingham. Richard is the presenter of the Space Boffins podcast, space correspondent for BBC Future and an ESA TV launch commentator.  The programme – hosted from Richard’s home in the East of England – will include features and discussions with leading asteroid experts. Guests include Antarctic meteorite hunter Dr Katie Joy from the University of Manchester, Professor Alan Fitzsimmons – who’s working on ESA’s asteroid intercept mission HERA, Dr Natalie Starkey from the Open University and ESA asteroid tracking expert Dr Detlef Koschny. We’ll also hear from astronauts, researchers working on ESA’s new asteroid tracking telescopes and Brian May giving us the low-down on the challenges of asteroid rendezvous.

Host: Sarah Cruddas - Space Journalist, TV Host, and Author Speakers: Makoto Yoshikawa - Hayabusa2 Mission Manager (JAXA) Patrick Michel - Director of Research, CNRS, Côte d’Azur Professor Dante Lauretta - University of Arizona, PI OSIRIS-REx (NASA) Japan’s Hayabusa 2 and the USA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will revolutionise asteroid science by bringing rock samples back to Earth. Find out about the science behind these daring missions and their current statuses. To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From the Ingredients of Life's blog post about the panel (also available here): https://bit.ly/2Alsmkt

Peter Gabriel 2020 Asteroid Day message! Peter Gabriel has been a long-time supporter of Asteroid Day and one of the original signatories to the 100X Asteroid Declaration which calls for a heightened awareness of the dangers of asteroids, the mitigation of their potential impact and the raising of public awareness.

Host: Stuart Clark - Science Journalist, Author Speaker: Franz Fayot - Minister of the Economy, Luxembourg Government To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From Fayot's blog post about the interview (also available here): https://bit.ly/3ieNYQN Franz Fayot is the Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs and the Minister of the Economy for the Luxembourg government. A member of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) since 1994, he became the party’s chairperson in 2019. He was elected to Parliament in 2013 and in 2018, as the candidate for the LSAP in the constituency of the Centre. In Parliament, he assumed the role of rapporteur for the draft budget for 2015 and focused on public finances, cultural policy, as well as on social justice and poverty issues. Following the cabinet reshuffle on 4 February 2020, Fayot joined the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the LSAP and the Green Party (déi gréng). From 1997 until his appointment to the government, Franz Fayot worked as a barrister in Luxembourg. In this interview, Fayot tells Stuart Clark that he was initially drawn to space in his childhood, watching films like Star Wars and 2001, A Space Odyssey. He thinks space offers inspiration and opportunities, and that Asteroid Day has an important role in educating people about asteroids and the roll they play in the formation of the solar system. He discusses how Luxembourg is happy to support Asteroid Day because the day is an established major platform of international education. Luxembourg itself is a pioneer in the utilisation of space resources, such as those that can be found on asteroids. He explains that the country is the first European country giving legal security and certainty for private operators who wish to explore and, eventually, utilise space resources to support sustainable space exploration. As a result, the space sector is already an important contributor to Luxembourg’s economic success as a country.

Host: Sarah Cruddas - Space Journalist, TV Host, Author Speaker: Martin Rees - British Astronomer Royal, Cosmologist, Astrophysicist To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From Rees's blog post about the interview (also available here): https://bit.ly/3ik2Q0e Martin Rees is a Fellow of Trinity College and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He holds the honorary title of Astronomer Royal and also Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and at Leicester University. In 2005 he was appointed to the House of Lords, and he was President of the Royal Society for 2005-10. He is the author or co-author of more than 500 research papers, mainly on astrophysics and cosmology, as well as eight books (six for general readership), and numerous magazine and newspaper articles on scientific and general subjects.  In this chat Lord Rees tells presenter Sarah Cruddas that although there is a regular chance of impact, it is not a big risk and that it doesn’t keep him away overnight. Drawing an analogy to the insurance business where premiums are calculated by multiplying the probability of the event by the cost of the consequences, he suggests that it would be prudent for the word to spend a few hundred million dollars a year on asteroid defence. He also explains how asteroids can tell us about the formation of the solar system and that this will allow us to place our system of planets in context with the others that we are discovering around other stars. When it comes to the future, he sees that the natural resources found on asteroids could be extracted and used for building things in space that will help us further explore the solar system.

Host: Sarah Cruddas - Space Journalist, TV Host, Author Speaker: Marco Fuchs - Owner and CEO of OHB To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l Asteroid Day is a dynamic awareness and educational program to inspire the world about asteroids – their role in the formation of our universe, how we can use their resources, how asteroids can pave the way for future exploration and finally how we can protect our planet from asteroid impacts.

Host: Alan Boyle - Aerospace and Science Editor for GeekWire Speakers: Mark Boslough - Chair, Asteroid Day Expert Panel (ADXP). Physicist, Sandia National Laboratories Dr. Yun Zhang - Astrophysicist, Côte d’Azur Univ. & Observatory Dr. Ronal Ballouz - Astrophysicist, Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona Daniella DellaGiustina - Planetary Scientist, Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona Using cutting edge data visualisation techniques, this panel will show what happens when asteroids plunge into our atmosphere, or the strange way they can be distorted by the Earth’s gravity when they fly close to our planet. To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From the Seeing is Believing's blog post about the panel (also available here): https://bit.ly/3gmKlXj

Host: Sarah Cruddas Speakers: Ed Lu - Astronaut, Director, Asteroid Institute Nicole Stott - Astronaut; Founder Space for Art Foundation Anousheh Ansari - Astronaut; CEO, xPrize Jean-Francois Clervoy - Astronaut; Founder, Air Zero G For this special Asteroid Day panel we gathered together NASA, ESA and private astronauts. We then went to social media and crowd sourced questions about space and asteroids for a special Astronaut Ask me Anything. To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From the AMA's blog post about the panel (also available here): https://bit.ly/31yIBpF

Host: Dr. Stuart Clark - Science Journalist, Author Speakers: Dr. Patrick Michel - NEO-MAPP Principal Investigator, CNRS, Côte d’Azur Observatory Dr. Naomi Murdoch - Planetary Scientist, ISAE-SUPAERO Dr. Jean- Baptiste Vincent - Planetary Scientist at German Space Agency DLR’s Institute of Planetary Research Dr. Julia de Leon - Planetary Scientist, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias The Near Earth Object Modelling and Payloads for Protection (NEO-MAPP) project develops instruments, technologies and data exploitation techniques for future spacecraft missions to asteroids. These include seismology stations to be dropped on asteroids, ground-based observing campaigns to support asteroid missions, and the best way to combine data sets to extract the maximum knowledge about asteroids. To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From the Preparing for the Future's blog post about the panel (also available here): https://bit.ly/2AkrbBQ

Host: Sarah Cruddas - Space Journalist, TV Host and Author Speakers: Ian Carnelli - ESA, Hera mission manager, Discovery and Preparation programme manager Mathias Link - Director International Affairs, Luxembourg Space Agency Sarah Fleischer - Economic Advisor, Luxemburg Space Agency Alexader Finch - Lead Avionics Engineer, Deep Space Industries Luxembourg has established itself as a European centre for space. It has worked in close partnership with ESA for the last 15 years and is now set to play a key role in current and future asteroid missions such as ESA’s Hera and M-Argo spacecraft. To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From the Satellites to Asteroids's blog post about the panel (also available here): https://bit.ly/38p9DRF

Host: Dr. Stuart Clark - Science journalist, Author Speakers: Dr. Gianlua Masi - Astrophysicist, Virtualtelescope.eu Dr. Anne Virkki - Head of the Planetary Radar Group, Arecibo Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons - Astrophysicist, Queen’s University Belfast Dr. Lynne Jones - Research Scientist, Univ. Washington In April 2020, approximately nine previously unknown asteroids were discovered every single night. But is this fast enough? Asteroid experts discuss the accelerating rate of asteroid discoveries and how to keep track of everything they find. To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l From the Asteroid Safari's blog post about the panel (also available here): https://bit.ly/3dUk5l7

Host: Lisa Burke - Presenter, Moderator, Science writer Speaker: Christoph Herrmann - Chief Sales Officer Defence & Space Technology at Euro-Composites To read more about the panels and 1:1 interviews, visit: https://bit.ly/38icj3l Asteroid Day is a dynamic awareness and educational program to inspire the world about asteroids – their role in the formation of our universe, how we can use their resources, how asteroids can pave the way for future exploration and finally how we can protect our planet from asteroid impacts.

Link to blog: https://asteroidday.org/resources/asteroid-learning/2020-esa-asteroid-day-programme-german/ Moderatorin und LinkedIn-Profi Céline Flores Willers wird einen Blick auf die Wissenschaft hinter den Asteroiden werfen und zeigen, wie Europa daran arbeitet, unseren Planeten vor möglichen Auswirkungen zu schützen. Wir werden erfahren, was wir aus Einschlagskratern lernen können und wie soziale Medien und “Bürgerwissenschaftler” dabei helfen, Feuerkugeln, die man am Himmel bewundern kann, zu beobachten und zu identifizieren. Zu den Gästen gehören Expertinnen und Experten der Europäischen Weltraumorganisation ESA und des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt DLR, sowie Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler der Universitäten Oldenburg und Berlin sowie des Berliner Museums für Naturkunde.   Moderator and LinkedIn professional Céline Flores Willers will take a look at the science behind asteroids and how Europe is working to help keep our planet safe from possible impacts. We’ll learn what impact craters can teach us and how social media and citizen scientists help to track and identify the fireballs that often blaze through the sky. Guests include experts from the European Space Agency and DLR, the German Aerospace Center, as well as scientists from the Universities of Oldenburg and Berlin and the Berlin Museum of Natural Science.

Link to blog: https://asteroidday.org/resources/asteroid-learning/2020-esa-asteroid-day-programme-spanish/ Descubre las últimas noticias y la información más reciente de la Agencia Espacial Europea en una charla moderada por Mariella Graziano, una de las divulgadoras STEM más activas en España y Europa, y directora del departamento de Sistemas Espaciales y Robótica en la multinacional tecnológica española GMV, profundamente implicada en el desarrollo de la misión de defensa planetaria HERA de la ESA. Entre los invitados a la charla habrá divulgadores, científicos, astrónomos y expertos que trabajan para comprender la fascinante ciencia de los asteroides y meteoritos, así como los riesgos potenciales de los asteroides que orbitan cerca de la Tierra (tanto a nivel europeo, como la contribución española). Una sección de este programa contará incluso con la presencia de astronautas que explicarán las razones por las que debemos ser conscientes de los potenciales peligros que los asteroides pueden suponer para nuestro planeta. Latest news and updates from the European Space Agency and hosted by Mariella Graziano, one of Europe’s active STEM outreach communicators and Director of Space Systems and Robotics department at Spanish company GMV, now deeply involved helping develop ESA’s Hera planetary defence mission. Guests will include scientists, astronomers and experts working to understand the fascinating science of asteroids and meteorites and the potential risks from asteroids that orbit near Earth (at European level and the Spanish contribution). Special programme segment may include astronauts explaining why we need to be aware of asteroid hazards towards our blue planet.

Link to blog: https://asteroidday.org/resources/asteroid-learning/2020-esa-asteroid-day-programme-french/ Bruce Benamran, l'un des youtubers scientifiques les plus regardés de France, animera une discussion passionnante autour des astéroïdes. Il abordera avec un panel de six experts plusieurs thèmes, dont les missions de défense planétaire et les opportunités futures offertes par l'exploitation des astéroïdes. Ian Carnelli (ESA), Aurélie Moussi (CNES), Patrick Michel (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Naomi Murdoch (ISAE-Supaero), Marc Serres (l'Agence spatiale luxembourgeoise) et l'astronaute de l'ESA Léopold Eyharts participeront à cette fascinante conversation; il expliqueront la manière dont les astéroïdes se sont formés et présenteront les découvertes scientifiques récentes et les défis à venir. A lively, animated discussion hosted by Bruce Benamran, one of France’s most-watched science youtubers. The programme will include discussions on asteroids, planetary defence missions and future opportunities in asteroid mining with six experts. Ian Carnelli (ESA), Patrick Michel (CNRS), Aurélie Moussi (CNES - the French Space Agency), Naomi Murdoch (ISAE-Supaero), Marc Serres (Luxembourg Space Agency) and ESA astronaut Léopold Éyharts will take part in a fascinating debate, shedding light on how asteroids first formed, presenting recent scientific findings and the challenges that still lie ahead.

Link to blog: https://asteroidday.org/resources/asteroid-learning/2020-esa-asteroid-day-programme-dutch/ Behalve planeten en manen, zweven er ook allerlei grote en kleine rotsblokken door ons zonnestelsel. Wat kunnen deze planetoïden (asteroids in het Engels) ons vertellen over het ontstaan van ons zonnestelsel, de aarde en het leven daarop? Kunnen we er ooit naartoe en waarom zouden we dat willen? Zouden we er ooit nuttige grondstoffen vandaan kunnen halen? En wat te doen als zo’n rotsblok op ramkoers met de aarde ligt? Ruimtevaartjournalist Sander Koenen bespreekt deze vragen met ESA astronaut André Kuipers, planeetonderzoeker Daphne Stam en ruimterecht-deskundige Tanja Masson in een door ESA en NSO georganiseerde webinar ter gelegenheid van ‘Asteroid Day’. Besides planets and moons, all kinds of large and small ‘boulders’ float through our Solar System. What can these asteroids tell us about the origin of our Solar System, the Earth and the life on it? Can we ever go there and why would we want to? Could we ever get useful raw materials from it? And what to do if such a boulder is on a collision course with Earth? Space journalist Sander Koenen discusses these questions with ESA astronaut André Kuipers, planetary researcher Daphne Stam and space law expert Tanja Masson in a webcast produced by the European Space Agency and the Dutch space office NSO for Asteroid Day.

Link to blog: https://asteroidday.org/resources/asteroid-learning/2020-esa-asteroid-day-programme-italian/ Un vivace incontro ospitato da Ettore Perozzi, maggiore esperto di difesa planetaria presso l’Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ASI. Ospiti di riguardo includono esperti ASI e di Agenzia Spaziale Europea (ESA), INAF, e Minor Planet Center dell'Unione Astronomica Internazionale. Rappresentazioni artistiche e di musica dal vivo saranno parte dell’evento, oltre all’astronauta dell’ESA Luca Parmitano che si unirà alla chiacchierata in collegamento da Houston, Texas. An animated discussion hosted by Ettore Perozzi, leading planetary defence expert from ASI, the Italian space agency. Special guests include experts from ASI as well as the European Space Agency (ESA), INAF, and the IAU Minor Planet Center. Art and live music performances will be part of the event, as well as ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano who will join the chat from Houston, Texas.