NASA HQ News: NASA Invites Media to Learn More About Near-Earth Asteroids, Comets

April 25, 2019
MEDIA ADVISORY M19-034
NASA Invites Media to Learn More About Near-Earth Asteroids, Comets

Media are invited to hear experts from around the world discuss the latest research on near-Earth objects (NEOs) at the International Academy of Astronautics’ 2019 Planetary Defense Conference Monday, April 29 through Friday, May 3 at The Hotel at the University of Maryland.

NEOs include asteroids and comets that orbit our Sun and come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit, where some may pose an impact hazard to our planet. NASA experts will talk about the agency’s first mission to demonstrate a technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space and other aspects of the nation’s planetary defense program.

Media who would like to attend the conference must contact Margaret Simon at margaret.simon@jhuapl.edu.

Follow the conversation on social media using the hashtag #PlanetaryDefense. The conference will stream live at:

https://sservi.nasa.gov/event/2019-iaa-planetary-defense-conference-live-stream/

NASA will kick off the NEO discussion at 3 p.m. EDT Sunday, April 28, with a media workshop at the conference venue hosted by the agency’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. The workshop will provide an overview of NASA’s planetary defense efforts, including how the agency identifies, monitors, and studies NEOs. To attend the workshop, media must provide their name and media affiliation to LaJuan Moore by Friday, April 26 at lajuan.moore@nasa.gov.

Highlights of the conference include:

9:20 a.m. Monday, April 29
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will deliver the conference’s keynote address. This address will stream live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

7:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 1
NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green will participate in a panel discussion about defending Earth from asteroids with Bill Nye, chief executive officer of The Planetary Society, and other leading experts. The event will stream live at:

https://livestream.com/viewnow/2019BillNyeVsTheAsteroids

The conference also will include a fictional asteroid impact scenario – an exercise that will give conference participants the opportunity to simulate response to a hypothetical asteroid impacting Earth. Learn more about this simulation at:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-fema-international-partners-plan-asteroid-impact-exercise

The Hotel at the University of Maryland is located at 7777 Baltimore Ave. in College Park, Maryland.

Learn more about NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, at:

https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense

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