MAE: Planetary Defense is in Town - NASA Planetary Defense Team Members Q&A and Seminar Talk

Bio: Josh Handal is a Program Analyst for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington. In his role, he works closely with the Near-Earth Object Observations Program Manager to oversee the diverse and multidisciplinary portfolio NASA utilizes to find, track, and better understand asteroids and comets that could pose an impact risk to Earth. Previously, he served as a NASA Public Affairs Officer and led strategic communications for various NASA missions, including for the agency’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia. 

Kelly Fast is the acting Planetary Defense Officer in the Planetary Defense Coordination Office which manages planetary defense related activities across NASA and coordinates with the U.S. interagency and with international collaborators to address the asteroid impact hazard. She is also the Program Manager for the Near-Earth Object Observations Program tasked with “finding them before they find us” and more. She is the Program Scientist for NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility and the Coordinating Officer for the International Asteroid Warning Network. Kelly earned her bachelor’s degree in astrophysics at UCLA and her master’s and doctorate degrees in astronomy at the University of Maryland at College Park. 

Lindley Johnson is NASA's Planetary Defense Officer Emeritus and led NASA's near-Earth object research efforts including the establishment of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office tasked with warning and response to any potential impact of Earth by an asteroid or comet. Under his leadership, NASA's program discovered about 94% of the total known near-Earth objects. He also led NASA's Discovery Program. Prior to NASA he served 23 years of Air Force active duty, obtained the rank of lieutenant colonel and was awarded numerous military honors and decorations while working on a variety of national security space systems. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1980 with a BA in Astronomy and a commission from Air Force ROTC. He also has an MS degree in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California. 

Abstract: An asteroid impact is the one natural disaster that could potentially be prevented. But how do we find the near-Earth objects (NEOs: asteroids and comets that might venture into Earth's neighborhood), and what can be done about them? NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office is tasked with managing NASA's search for near-Earth asteroids, researching mitigation options , and coordinating with U.S. interagency and international efforts to study and plan a response to the asteroid impact hazard. Activities include projects that find/track/characterize NEOs, data processing/analysis/modeling for orbit determination and impact prediction, the successful Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) demonstration mission, and the upcoming Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope to accelerate NASA's Congressionally-tasked efforts to find the asteroids that pose the greatest hazard to Earth. 

Host: Dan Quinn