[meteorite-list] NASA Update to Highlight Progress, Upcoming Milestones for Asteroid Redirect Mission, Observation, Grand Challenge

[Ron Baalke]

June 16, 2014
     
NASA Update to Highlight Progress, Upcoming Milestones for Asteroid 
Redirect Mission, Observation, Grand Challenge

On Thursday, June 19, NASA will host a televised update on recent progress 
and upcoming milestones in the agency's efforts to identify, capture and 
relocate an asteroid, and send astronauts to take samples of it in the 2020s. 
The 1-2:30 p.m. EDT event will kick off a two-day virtual workshop to 
highlight successes and new opportunities through NASA's Asteroid Grand 
Challenge, which coincides with its first anniversary.

As leftover building blocks of the solar system, near-Earth asteroids may 
hold important clues about the origins of life and other scientific 
questions. Improving our understanding of asteroid composition and movement 
could help us protect Earth from impacts and identify good candidates for 
future missions as we expand human presence to Mars.

For these reasons and more, NASA is engaged in an Asteroid Redirect Mission, 
which plans to identify, capture and redirect an asteroid to a stable orbit 
around the moon, where astronauts will study it in the 2020s. New 
partnerships through the agency's grand challenge also are helping augment 
NASA's existing work to identify asteroid threats to Earth and figure out 
what to do about them.

During the event, speakers from multiple NASA centers and universities will 
discuss asteroid observation efforts and new findings, current and future 
testing for the Asteroid Redirect Mission, and ways for the public to 
participate in the grand challenge.

Participants in the update are:
-- Lindley Johnson, program executive, NASA's Near Earth Object Program
-- Michele Gates, program director, NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission
-- Jason Kessler, program executive, NASA's Asteroid Grand Challenge
-- Paul Chodas, program scientist, NASA's Near Earth Object Program
-- David Tholen, astronomer, University of Hawaii
-- Marco Micheli, research assistant, University of Hawaii
-- David Trilling, associate professor, Northern Arizona University
-- Michael Mommert, post-doctoral researcher, Northern Arizona University

Media interested in asking questions of the participants via telephone during 
the televised update should contact Trent Perrotto at 202-358-0321 or 
trent.j.perrrotto at nasa.gov by noon Thursday.

Media and the public also can ask questions during event on Twitter using the 
hashtag #AskNASA.

Media interested in covering the June 19 and 20 grand challenge virtual 
workshop should contact Sarah Ramsey at 202-358-1694 or sarah.ramsey at nasa.gov 
by 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 18.

NASA's Asteroid Initiative comprises the Asteroid Redirect Mission and 
Asteroid Grand Challenge. Through the redirect mission, NASA will test new 
systems and capabilities needed to support future human missions to Mars. The 
grand challenge seeks the best ideas to find all asteroid threats to human 
populations and accelerate the work NASA already is doing for planetary 
defense.

For more information on the Asteroid Initiative and grand challenge virtual 
workshop, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/asteroidinitiative 

-end-

Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto at nasa.gov 

Sarah Ramsey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1694
sarah.ramsey at nasa.gov