1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.BZ 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.BZ 3 00:00:10,190 --> 00:00:11,690 - So this next set is finishing up. 4 00:00:11,690 --> 00:00:13,159 We'll have some new data here pretty quick. 5 00:00:16,069 --> 00:00:19,849 Potentially hazardous asteroids can show up anywhere in the 6 00:00:19,849 --> 00:00:21,380 night sky at any time. 7 00:00:21,380 --> 00:00:23,720 So we were up here for 12 8 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,110 to 13 hours sometimes making decisions about 9 00:00:27,110 --> 00:00:29,239 the objects we're seeing if they're real 10 00:00:29,239 --> 00:00:31,310 or if they're just noise in the background. 11 00:00:39,619 --> 00:00:41,900 And so the odds of finding an asteroid are gonna increase 12 00:00:41,900 --> 00:00:44,030 as we move toward the, toward the east. 13 00:00:56,125 --> 00:00:58,704 - 6 3 0 2 5 14 00:01:10,009 --> 00:01:13,490 - Oh this might be something, oh, you guys look at that. 15 00:01:14,719 --> 00:01:16,130 Based off these four images, 16 00:01:16,130 --> 00:01:19,490 this is a new brand new near Earth asteroid. 17 00:01:19,490 --> 00:01:21,559 We got one. No, like I didn't think that was gonna happen. 18 00:01:21,559 --> 00:01:23,330 We got I Yeah. No, it's brand new. 19 00:01:23,330 --> 00:01:24,710 Yeah, I just got the notice back from, 20 00:01:25,820 --> 00:01:27,589 from the minor planet center that they published it. 21 00:01:27,589 --> 00:01:29,719 So there it is. Bam. Live. 22 00:01:29,719 --> 00:01:31,639 This is actually a big rock too right now. 23 00:01:31,639 --> 00:01:34,669 It is absolutely a potentially hazardous object if you guys 24 00:01:34,669 --> 00:01:35,930 were gonna be here for a discovery. 25 00:01:35,930 --> 00:01:39,830 A PHA is definitely what you want. Yeah, this is a big rock. 26 00:01:39,830 --> 00:01:44,240 Yeah, it is nominally about 230 27 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,779 meters in diameter, which is quite large 28 00:01:47,779 --> 00:01:51,800 and it's a minimum orbit intersection distance with earth, 29 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:53,869 which means how close it comes 30 00:01:53,869 --> 00:01:56,839 to the earth's path in the Earth's orbit is 31 00:01:56,839 --> 00:01:58,699 between us and the moon. 32 00:01:58,699 --> 00:02:01,969 It's only about 150,000 kilometers away, 33 00:02:01,969 --> 00:02:05,630 which is a significant P-H-A-A-P-H-A like this only comes up 34 00:02:05,630 --> 00:02:09,665 a couple times per year, so, so these are the ones we want. 35 00:02:12,415 --> 00:02:14,545 Yeah, that's a nice one. 36 00:03:09,029 --> 00:03:10,680 - When a two mile wide fragment 37 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,140 of the comet traveling 40 miles a second, pieces 38 00:03:13,140 --> 00:03:15,089 of the comet that will hit Jupiter, 39 00:03:15,089 --> 00:03:16,619 three fragments are scheduled to hit, 40 00:03:16,619 --> 00:03:19,379 the planet will slam into the same area, 41 00:03:19,379 --> 00:03:21,420 the same spot on the planet Jupiter. 42 00:03:22,469 --> 00:03:24,450 - About 1993 we learned 43 00:03:24,450 --> 00:03:26,969 that there was a comet heading for Jupiter 44 00:03:26,969 --> 00:03:27,969 - Comet. 45 00:03:27,969 --> 00:03:30,599 Shoemaker Levy nine was a comet that was discovered 46 00:03:30,599 --> 00:03:34,020 by Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy. 47 00:03:34,020 --> 00:03:37,050 It was shown to be broken up into a bunch of pieces. 48 00:03:37,050 --> 00:03:38,400 - They traced back the orbit. 49 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,039 This thing had gone by Jupiter and got disrupted 50 00:03:41,039 --> 00:03:42,689 - And then they tracked the orbit forward 51 00:03:42,689 --> 00:03:45,599 and found out these are getting to hit Jupiter and 52 00:03:45,599 --> 00:03:46,800 - That got - Everyone excited. 53 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:48,180 It's really the, the first time 54 00:03:48,180 --> 00:03:50,159 that these impacts have been observed. 55 00:03:50,159 --> 00:03:54,059 Impacts were very important in the formation of everything. 56 00:03:54,059 --> 00:03:56,610 - We could observe an impact on another planet. 57 00:03:56,610 --> 00:03:58,770 - Scientists still don't know what they're going 58 00:03:58,770 --> 00:04:01,950 to see tonight, but they do know that they've come 59 00:04:01,950 --> 00:04:04,499 to the best place in the world to see it. 60 00:04:04,499 --> 00:04:05,670 - The whole world community, 61 00:04:05,670 --> 00:04:08,849 scientific community was preparing to observe these events. 62 00:04:08,849 --> 00:04:12,180 - Any telescopes that could observe the impact did many, 63 00:04:12,180 --> 00:04:13,529 - Many ground-based - Telescopes. 64 00:04:13,529 --> 00:04:14,909 - The Hubble Space Telescope, 65 00:04:14,909 --> 00:04:16,260 - All of the images from Hubble 66 00:04:16,260 --> 00:04:19,110 that went on the web were suddenly got everyone's attention, 67 00:04:19,110 --> 00:04:22,469 - Which was a real key to many of the scientific results. 68 00:04:22,469 --> 00:04:25,710 - Also, - Galileo, which was on the way to Jupiter at the 69 00:04:25,710 --> 00:04:29,279 - Time, the NASA Infra telescope facility had a campaign 70 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:31,979 dedicated to observing Shoemaker Levy. 71 00:04:33,179 --> 00:04:35,909 - This observing run for the shoemaker Levy Nine Impacts. 72 00:04:35,909 --> 00:04:38,190 That was my first observing run ever. We 73 00:04:38,190 --> 00:04:41,219 - Were starting tonight with the near infrared spectometer. 74 00:04:41,219 --> 00:04:42,750 - God that's gorgeous. 75 00:04:42,750 --> 00:04:44,729 - We were seeing something pop up on the screen. 76 00:04:44,729 --> 00:04:49,109 It was really just shouting, literally dancing about 77 00:04:49,109 --> 00:04:52,049 and we saw this bright thing just light up 78 00:04:52,049 --> 00:04:54,359 and it was like, yes, we did it. 79 00:04:54,359 --> 00:04:56,159 - We were all like kids in a candy store. I 80 00:04:56,159 --> 00:04:59,429 - Guess a lot of the energy we saw wasn't just the impact 81 00:04:59,429 --> 00:05:01,679 itself, but it was the sort of the splashback. 82 00:05:01,679 --> 00:05:03,960 - And when those pieces plowed into the atmosphere, 83 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,659 they brought up big plumes of material 84 00:05:06,659 --> 00:05:09,779 that rained back down on the upper part of the atmosphere, 85 00:05:09,779 --> 00:05:11,400 - We're able to measure changes in the 86 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:12,779 upper atmosphere of Jupiter. 87 00:05:12,779 --> 00:05:14,969 It taught us a great deal about how 88 00:05:14,969 --> 00:05:16,830 - Impacts take place. 89 00:05:16,830 --> 00:05:20,010 - Scientists say if a fragment the same size hit Earth, 90 00:05:20,010 --> 00:05:22,349 it would leave a crater the size of Rhode Island. 91 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,599 - It was one of those wake up calls that you know, 92 00:05:27,599 --> 00:05:30,719 not only our impact something that happened in the past, 93 00:05:30,719 --> 00:05:33,570 but there're happening now in our solar system 94 00:05:33,570 --> 00:05:35,520 - And here it is this awakening. 95 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,760 They kind of precipitated this NASA planetary 96 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,500 defense coordination office 97 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,159 - To make sure to find the asteroids that come close 98 00:05:44,159 --> 00:05:46,500 to earth and the comets that come close to earth. 99 00:05:46,500 --> 00:05:48,839 Get them cataloged, figure out where they've been 100 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:50,219 and where they're going to be in the future. 101 00:05:50,219 --> 00:05:52,979 Just so we understand, are we at risk 102 00:05:52,979 --> 00:05:54,479 of being impacted on the earth? 103 00:05:54,479 --> 00:05:57,239 - So that's a big component of what NASA does. 104 00:05:57,239 --> 00:06:00,479 Now it has planetary defense to find potential impacts 105 00:06:00,479 --> 00:06:01,620 for the earth and protecting it. 106 00:06:19,150 --> 00:06:22,330 - Let's go back to Senator Cruz's question. 107 00:06:22,330 --> 00:06:26,620 What would an asteroid that is a kilometer in diameter, 108 00:06:26,620 --> 00:06:29,529 what would it do if it hit the earth 109 00:06:29,529 --> 00:06:31,570 - That is likely to end human civilization? 110 00:06:38,409 --> 00:06:41,409 - The impacts of comets, shoemaker Levy nine 111 00:06:41,409 --> 00:06:45,159 with Jupiter in 1994 that showed us that you know 112 00:06:45,159 --> 00:06:49,089 what impacts are still happening in the solar system today 113 00:06:49,089 --> 00:06:51,909 - That really spurred some interest on the 114 00:06:51,909 --> 00:06:52,929 part of the Congress. 115 00:06:52,929 --> 00:06:56,770 - NASA was tasked by Congress in 1998 116 00:06:56,770 --> 00:07:00,520 to catalog 90% of all the large near earth objects. 117 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,820 So those that are one kilometer or more in size, 118 00:07:05,589 --> 00:07:06,940 - Those objects are big enough to cause 119 00:07:06,940 --> 00:07:09,070 what we would call truly global devastation. 120 00:07:09,070 --> 00:07:11,289 Meaning that they could cause global extinction events. 121 00:07:11,289 --> 00:07:14,950 The good news is that we found more than about 95% of them. 122 00:07:14,950 --> 00:07:19,719 - The catalog includes almost 900 asteroids, one kilometer 123 00:07:19,719 --> 00:07:21,130 or larger in size. 124 00:07:21,130 --> 00:07:26,130 - That said, none of these known large NES pose any threat 125 00:07:26,140 --> 00:07:28,929 of impact to the earth within the next a hundred years. 126 00:07:31,690 --> 00:07:36,159 - And then eventually in 2005, that direction from Congress 127 00:07:36,159 --> 00:07:39,609 to NASA was set to find the population of asteroids 128 00:07:39,609 --> 00:07:41,320 that are 140 meters 129 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:42,700 and larger in size 130 00:07:42,700 --> 00:07:46,989 that could do regional damage should it impact earth 131 00:07:46,989 --> 00:07:48,279 - A city killer. 132 00:07:48,279 --> 00:07:49,690 Now the picture's not so rosy. 133 00:07:49,690 --> 00:07:53,049 We know of about 40% of those objects today. 134 00:07:53,049 --> 00:07:56,049 - Today we do not have a complete inventory 135 00:07:56,049 --> 00:07:58,000 of all the possible impactors 136 00:07:59,260 --> 00:08:01,929 - And that is something that NASA 137 00:08:01,929 --> 00:08:04,450 and the worldwide planetary defense community has 138 00:08:04,450 --> 00:08:05,739 been endeavoring to do. 139 00:08:05,739 --> 00:08:08,589 - Well here at nasa, what I lead is the Planetary Defense 140 00:08:08,589 --> 00:08:09,609 Coordination Office. 141 00:08:09,609 --> 00:08:11,049 We are helping 142 00:08:11,049 --> 00:08:14,440 to coordinate efforts not only in the United States 143 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:19,000 and across the US agencies, but also around the world, 144 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,969 - Finding asteroids, tracking them, 145 00:08:21,969 --> 00:08:24,460 calculating their orbits, figuring out where they're going 146 00:08:24,460 --> 00:08:28,000 to be in the future, studying their physical properties. 147 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,799 And then you get that information you might 148 00:08:29,799 --> 00:08:30,849 need in the event. 149 00:08:30,849 --> 00:08:32,529 And impact threat is discovered. 150 00:08:33,460 --> 00:08:36,159 - We've discovered more than 30,000 near Earth objects 151 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:39,370 so far and we are discovering, you know, 152 00:08:39,370 --> 00:08:41,860 hundreds you know, every year. But 153 00:08:41,860 --> 00:08:43,000 - We haven't found them all. 154 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,100 So that's really the big question. 155 00:08:45,100 --> 00:08:46,569 There's almost certainly a, 156 00:08:46,569 --> 00:08:48,340 a decent sized asteroid out there 157 00:08:48,340 --> 00:08:51,429 that is gonna pose an impact threat to the planet. 158 00:08:51,429 --> 00:08:52,990 We're just trying to find it right now. 159 00:09:03,949 --> 00:09:07,130 So the way we approach finding near earth objects is 160 00:09:07,130 --> 00:09:09,770 basically just to make a short movie of the night sky 161 00:09:09,770 --> 00:09:12,020 that consists of four frames 162 00:09:12,020 --> 00:09:15,559 and then our software will pick out objects that are moving 163 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:17,000 inside of the four frames 164 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,340 and we have to identify if they are real 165 00:09:19,340 --> 00:09:20,809 or if they're false detections. 166 00:09:22,250 --> 00:09:24,980 I first started hunting asteroids in my backyard 167 00:09:24,980 --> 00:09:28,880 and I just had the hope of maybe discovering one. 168 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:30,409 And when that happened, it was a very 169 00:09:30,409 --> 00:09:32,059 special moment in my life. 170 00:09:32,059 --> 00:09:34,909 My interest in astronomy started at a fairly young age. 171 00:09:34,909 --> 00:09:37,400 I remember as a kid seeing Comet hell bop in the 172 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,049 sky from southern Utah. 173 00:09:39,049 --> 00:09:41,209 It was really a spectacular side as a child 174 00:09:41,209 --> 00:09:42,679 and just trying to wrap my mind around 175 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:44,150 what I was looking at was difficult. 176 00:09:47,059 --> 00:09:48,500 This is one area of science 177 00:09:48,500 --> 00:09:51,709 where discoveries are still happening on a nightly basis 178 00:09:51,709 --> 00:09:55,279 and it's really a neat feeling to, to step into that 179 00:09:55,279 --> 00:09:57,949 where you can be sitting in a telescope at night 180 00:09:57,949 --> 00:10:00,709 and discover a new minor planet that's in orbit 181 00:10:00,709 --> 00:10:03,049 around the sun that nobody has ever seen before. 182 00:10:03,049 --> 00:10:04,490 It's, it's a special thing 183 00:10:04,490 --> 00:10:05,750 and I think that's what draws a lot 184 00:10:05,750 --> 00:10:06,890 of people into this business. 185 00:10:12,709 --> 00:10:14,600 - The first order of planetary defense is 186 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:16,429 finding the asteroids. 187 00:10:16,429 --> 00:10:19,429 And so one aspect of the program is funding institutions 188 00:10:19,429 --> 00:10:24,049 with telescopes that can image wide swaths of the sky 189 00:10:24,049 --> 00:10:27,319 to be able to look at the starry background 190 00:10:27,319 --> 00:10:30,169 and look for objects moving with respect to the stars 191 00:10:30,169 --> 00:10:32,569 to see is there something there that we haven't seen before. 192 00:10:32,569 --> 00:10:34,669 - This is the whole sky, that's a all sky camera. 193 00:10:34,669 --> 00:10:37,039 So you can see this is a live video feed from the end 194 00:10:37,039 --> 00:10:38,569 of the telescope and you can make out the 195 00:10:38,569 --> 00:10:39,799 Milky Way right here. 196 00:10:39,799 --> 00:10:42,140 And this is the size of the images we're taking right now. 197 00:10:42,980 --> 00:10:45,199 And then we subtract the known objects 198 00:10:45,199 --> 00:10:46,819 and the stars from those images 199 00:10:46,819 --> 00:10:48,620 and then we look for moving targets. 200 00:10:48,620 --> 00:10:50,209 - The object is moving because it's closer 201 00:10:50,209 --> 00:10:51,980 to the earth than the background starts. 202 00:10:51,980 --> 00:10:53,990 - I can tell this first one is a star. 203 00:10:53,990 --> 00:10:55,970 You can see that that object stays there. 204 00:10:55,970 --> 00:10:59,299 So if I load up a catalog image, which is a very old image, 205 00:10:59,299 --> 00:11:01,309 you can see that first it is actually a star. 206 00:11:01,309 --> 00:11:02,900 That one's actually a star. 207 00:11:02,900 --> 00:11:04,880 Those moving targets are gonna be asteroids 208 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:06,500 that are in orbit around the sun. 209 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:07,640 So that's a known asteroid. 210 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,370 It comes up green and it has the designation above it. 211 00:11:10,370 --> 00:11:13,220 And oftentimes they're new, we've never seen them before. 212 00:11:13,220 --> 00:11:15,169 So what we have here is a near earth asteroid 213 00:11:15,169 --> 00:11:16,610 that is likely brand new 214 00:11:16,610 --> 00:11:18,829 and I can already tell that it's not coming up in any 215 00:11:18,829 --> 00:11:20,870 of the known databases. 216 00:11:20,870 --> 00:11:22,400 - And then what you have to do is go 217 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,260 and identify whether it's a known 218 00:11:24,260 --> 00:11:26,689 asteroid or a new asteroid. So that's the next step. 219 00:11:26,689 --> 00:11:28,250 - When the asteroid is first discovered, 220 00:11:28,250 --> 00:11:31,010 we submit the information almost immediately 221 00:11:31,010 --> 00:11:32,840 to the minor planet center at Harvard 222 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,169 and we are gonna send this data off in real time here. 223 00:11:36,169 --> 00:11:38,209 The temporary designation we're going to assign 224 00:11:38,209 --> 00:11:39,980 to it the date and the time 225 00:11:39,980 --> 00:11:42,409 and the location on the sky that it was located 226 00:11:42,409 --> 00:11:44,630 and then it's approximate visual magnitude. 227 00:11:45,949 --> 00:11:48,529 I'm going to report it as a brand new near earth 228 00:11:48,529 --> 00:11:49,699 object candidate. 229 00:11:50,779 --> 00:11:53,840 - It's important to turn that information around quickly. 230 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,720 The different survey telescopes quickly feed those position 231 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,010 measurements to the minor planet center, 232 00:11:59,010 --> 00:12:01,380 which is the internationally recognized repository 233 00:12:01,380 --> 00:12:03,029 for position measurements 234 00:12:03,029 --> 00:12:05,250 of small bodies throughout the solar system, 235 00:12:09,779 --> 00:12:10,779 - Minor planet. 236 00:12:10,779 --> 00:12:14,100 I like to think as the link between the astronomic community 237 00:12:14,100 --> 00:12:17,459 and everything that comes after that in planetary defense. 238 00:12:17,459 --> 00:12:19,169 My name is Federica Spotto 239 00:12:19,169 --> 00:12:21,510 and I'm the project scientist of the minor planet center. 240 00:12:21,510 --> 00:12:24,809 So part of the role of the minor planet center is 241 00:12:24,809 --> 00:12:29,069 to actually distinguish what is known and what is not known. 242 00:12:29,069 --> 00:12:30,929 We keep all the observations 243 00:12:30,929 --> 00:12:32,610 and all the orbits of the objects 244 00:12:32,610 --> 00:12:35,189 so we don't see the imagery, we just see this spines 245 00:12:35,189 --> 00:12:36,840 and does represent a different position 246 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,130 of the object moving. 247 00:12:38,130 --> 00:12:40,544 And so it tells you very accurately the time of the app 248 00:12:40,544 --> 00:12:42,480 of the observations and then then the position. 249 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:43,770 So once we have the position 250 00:12:43,770 --> 00:12:45,659 and the time we can get the orbit 251 00:12:45,659 --> 00:12:47,400 - So all the data comes in from, 252 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,650 everyone gets consolidated there. 253 00:12:49,650 --> 00:12:53,309 So we have a common catalog that we are working from 254 00:12:53,309 --> 00:12:55,529 - An arch archive of everything that is known 255 00:12:55,529 --> 00:12:56,909 and everything that is not known. 256 00:12:58,380 --> 00:13:00,209 The cool thing about the minor planet center is 257 00:13:00,209 --> 00:13:02,189 that everything we do is public. 258 00:13:02,189 --> 00:13:03,929 So as soon as we receive the observations, 259 00:13:03,929 --> 00:13:05,279 the observations goes out, 260 00:13:05,279 --> 00:13:07,679 - That information can all be rolled up there 261 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:12,120 and available for other observatories to see them 262 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,970 and then go get additional observations so 263 00:13:14,970 --> 00:13:17,400 that there is enough information to get an orbit 264 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,860 - And anyone can then access that data 265 00:13:19,860 --> 00:13:21,510 to track these objects down 266 00:13:21,510 --> 00:13:23,159 and help us determine if they are gonna be an 267 00:13:23,159 --> 00:13:24,809 impact risk in the future. 268 00:13:24,809 --> 00:13:26,309 - Once we find an asteroid 269 00:13:26,309 --> 00:13:29,130 and we've got an orbit for it, the next logical question is, 270 00:13:29,130 --> 00:13:30,240 is it going to hit the earth? 271 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:33,870 Fortunately there's a group here at the Jet Propulsion 272 00:13:33,870 --> 00:13:36,449 Laboratory called the Center for Near Earth Object Studies 273 00:13:36,449 --> 00:13:39,929 or CNOs for Short that is tasked with doing exactly this. 274 00:13:44,429 --> 00:13:46,380 - They assess the hazard potential 275 00:13:46,380 --> 00:13:48,240 of this newly discovered near earth object 276 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,620 - And they do orbit determination to see both short term 277 00:13:52,620 --> 00:13:55,049 and way out into the future a hundred years into the future. 278 00:13:55,049 --> 00:13:57,000 Could any of those pose an impact threat? 279 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:58,110 - My name's Ryan Park 280 00:13:58,110 --> 00:13:59,699 and I'm the supervisor 281 00:13:59,699 --> 00:14:01,799 of the Solar Assistant Dynamics Group at the Jet 282 00:14:01,799 --> 00:14:03,209 Proportional Laboratory. 283 00:14:03,209 --> 00:14:06,360 And I'm also serving as the project manager for Center 284 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:07,770 for nearest object studies. 285 00:14:07,770 --> 00:14:11,250 So date, we maintain about a little over 1.3 million 286 00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:13,500 objects, most of them being asteroids. 287 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:16,079 We predict the motion of unknown asteroids 288 00:14:16,079 --> 00:14:18,779 and we process the entire data set from the minor planet 289 00:14:18,779 --> 00:14:20,100 center to predict 290 00:14:20,100 --> 00:14:22,715 and reconstruct the orbit of the asteroids so 291 00:14:22,715 --> 00:14:25,169 that we can perform statistical assessment 292 00:14:25,169 --> 00:14:27,720 of the potential earth impact. 293 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:28,860 Yeah, so what we do is the, 294 00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:31,319 we process the astro metric collected 295 00:14:31,319 --> 00:14:33,209 by ground-based observers 296 00:14:33,209 --> 00:14:34,470 and we fit those through 297 00:14:34,470 --> 00:14:37,860 what we call the orbit termination process to get the orbit 298 00:14:37,860 --> 00:14:40,439 of the asteroid as a function of time 299 00:14:40,439 --> 00:14:42,510 so we can propagate backwards forwards 300 00:14:42,510 --> 00:14:44,370 and figure out where the o where the 301 00:14:44,370 --> 00:14:46,020 asteroid is in real time. 302 00:14:46,020 --> 00:14:49,740 So this basically catalogs all the potentially hazard SRUs 303 00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:51,689 that might come close to the earth 304 00:14:51,689 --> 00:14:53,850 and we document the, the probability 305 00:14:53,850 --> 00:14:55,559 of potential earth's impact 306 00:14:55,559 --> 00:14:58,449 and if it were to hit the with certain probability, 307 00:14:58,449 --> 00:15:00,459 when is it going to be and where is it going to be? 308 00:15:00,459 --> 00:15:03,130 And we do this for next hundred years 309 00:15:03,130 --> 00:15:05,770 and assess whether it's going to be hitting the earth 310 00:15:05,770 --> 00:15:07,750 and if so with what probability. 311 00:15:07,750 --> 00:15:10,569 And that information gets shared with the senior's website 312 00:15:10,569 --> 00:15:12,340 as well as with the entire world. 313 00:15:14,709 --> 00:15:16,779 - This data gets disseminated immediately 314 00:15:16,779 --> 00:15:18,279 to many different organizations 315 00:15:18,279 --> 00:15:19,329 and NASA's center 316 00:15:19,329 --> 00:15:23,679 for Near Earth object studies runs watchdogs 317 00:15:23,679 --> 00:15:26,650 that are constantly ingesting this data 318 00:15:26,650 --> 00:15:30,429 and calculating the odds of an impact in the near future. 319 00:15:30,429 --> 00:15:33,309 And if they find that this object has any probability 320 00:15:33,309 --> 00:15:34,809 of hitting the earth in the near future, 321 00:15:34,809 --> 00:15:37,510 we will get an alert on our systems within about 322 00:15:37,510 --> 00:15:39,010 10 or 15 minutes. 323 00:15:39,010 --> 00:15:41,559 - And then when people start receiving this type 324 00:15:41,559 --> 00:15:44,650 of like warning, then there's a huge community 325 00:15:44,650 --> 00:15:46,779 of astronomers that start observing it from 326 00:15:46,779 --> 00:15:49,809 - All around the globe as the earth rotates 327 00:15:49,809 --> 00:15:52,270 and nighttime falls across Asia or 328 00:15:52,270 --> 00:15:53,270 - Europe. 329 00:15:53,270 --> 00:15:55,720 And so we start getting observations from all over the world 330 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,900 at every time and we start processing them really quickly. 331 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:00,429 - It's a very smooth running machine. 332 00:16:06,069 --> 00:16:08,890 It transcends boundaries of countries. 333 00:16:08,890 --> 00:16:11,679 - Asteroids don't care about international boundaries. 334 00:16:11,679 --> 00:16:15,220 - It doesn't matter where the asteroid impacts, it affects, 335 00:16:15,220 --> 00:16:16,360 you know, the entire humanity. 336 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,610 In fact any anything alive on the earth, it 337 00:16:18,610 --> 00:16:22,029 - Transcends basically anything except what makes us human 338 00:16:22,029 --> 00:16:25,510 and what, what it means to help discover 339 00:16:25,510 --> 00:16:28,000 and protect the planet from a hazardous 340 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,350 asteroid that might be incoming. 341 00:16:29,350 --> 00:16:30,789 - Yeah, I'm really proud of it. 342 00:16:30,789 --> 00:16:33,880 I would say it's, that's like, yeah, I'm proud 343 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,679 and I'm proud that I'm working on something 344 00:16:35,679 --> 00:16:37,840 that is actually very useful for the community. 345 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:39,429 Like we are part the defense 346 00:16:39,429 --> 00:16:42,340 but also like we do everything so 347 00:16:42,340 --> 00:16:43,959 that we can help the community. 348 00:16:46,179 --> 00:16:50,590 - It was a great honor to have an asteroid named after me. 349 00:16:50,590 --> 00:16:53,079 So there's Ryan Park asteroid. 350 00:16:53,079 --> 00:16:55,000 I mean this was a huge deal for me. 351 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,549 I mean I, this basically led me to believe 352 00:16:57,549 --> 00:17:01,000 that I'm making some contribution to the field. 353 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,360 - We didn't even know asteroids existed 200 years ago 354 00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:07,240 and it's only been in the last few decades 355 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,189 that we even had the technology to be able 356 00:17:09,189 --> 00:17:11,199 to detect these things. 357 00:17:11,199 --> 00:17:15,969 So yeah, I might be referred to the follow 358 00:17:15,969 --> 00:17:17,259 of planetary defense. 359 00:17:18,249 --> 00:17:22,030 I created the term perhaps, but it is only 360 00:17:22,030 --> 00:17:24,945 because I, you know, stand on the shoulders of, 361 00:17:24,945 --> 00:17:26,590 of those asteroid hunters 362 00:17:26,590 --> 00:17:29,140 before me that we are now able 363 00:17:29,140 --> 00:17:32,350 to protect the world from asteroid impact. 364 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:40,120 - So this object has already been ingested by the Center 365 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:42,999 for near Earth object studies scout watchdog right off the 366 00:17:42,999 --> 00:17:45,790 bat it tells us that the probability this is a near earth 367 00:17:45,790 --> 00:17:47,350 object is already 100% 368 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,679 and the probability it is a potentially hazardous asteroid 369 00:17:50,679 --> 00:17:52,090 is 67%. 370 00:17:52,090 --> 00:17:56,150 There is no real impact rating or probability. 371 00:17:56,150 --> 00:18:00,050 So it's not currently a threat but long term 372 00:18:00,050 --> 00:18:01,820 after the arc is extended 373 00:18:01,820 --> 00:18:04,580 and we have a better idea of the orbit of this object, 374 00:18:04,580 --> 00:18:06,530 this might be a brand new unknown, 375 00:18:06,530 --> 00:18:08,120 potentially hazardous asteroid. 376 00:18:19,429 --> 00:18:20,755 - So finding asteroids, 377 00:18:20,755 --> 00:18:23,685 that's probably the most important part of planetary defense 378 00:18:23,685 --> 00:18:26,479 or the fundamental part of planetary defense. 379 00:18:26,479 --> 00:18:27,830 But it doesn't help 380 00:18:27,830 --> 00:18:30,320 to see an asteroid if you don't have enough information 381 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,150 to know where it's going to be in the future. 382 00:18:32,150 --> 00:18:34,999 - You can't do anything about 'em unless you find them and 383 00:18:34,999 --> 00:18:37,400 and know where they're going. 384 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:39,290 - That means the race is on to try to figure out 385 00:18:39,290 --> 00:18:42,469 how can we get more data, can we get more exposures of it so 386 00:18:42,469 --> 00:18:44,959 that we can figure out which way it's actually going 387 00:18:44,959 --> 00:18:47,419 and then eventually get a really good orbit for it so 388 00:18:47,419 --> 00:18:50,419 that we can predict far into the future where it's gonna go, 389 00:18:50,419 --> 00:18:52,159 especially with respect to the earth. 390 00:18:52,159 --> 00:18:53,570 - So then there are telescopes 391 00:18:53,570 --> 00:18:57,650 that go zero in on those initial observations by the surveys 392 00:18:57,650 --> 00:19:01,009 and they get even more measurements of those positions. 393 00:19:01,009 --> 00:19:04,669 - My name is Cassandra Luli Space watch is 394 00:19:04,669 --> 00:19:06,259 where follow up survey essentially. 395 00:19:06,259 --> 00:19:09,080 So the telescope behind me is a 0.9 meter telescope 396 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,019 that we use to follow up near earth objects. 397 00:19:12,019 --> 00:19:14,840 But when they're first discovered they have very short 398 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,290 orbital arcs so they have very imprecise orbits 399 00:19:18,290 --> 00:19:21,199 and so if we follow them up we get a better orbit 400 00:19:21,199 --> 00:19:23,840 to determine if there's a higher chance 401 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:25,400 of them hitting the earth or not. 402 00:19:26,719 --> 00:19:28,640 So these are the type of I images 403 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:30,709 that we get back from the telescope 404 00:19:30,709 --> 00:19:34,249 and so you can see that our asteroid is essentially a dot 405 00:19:34,249 --> 00:19:37,729 that's moving and then the stars look like long lines 406 00:19:37,729 --> 00:19:41,060 because of how we track on the asteroid 407 00:19:41,060 --> 00:19:42,409 and not on the stars. 408 00:19:43,310 --> 00:19:45,259 When an asteroid is first discovered, 409 00:19:45,259 --> 00:19:49,189 the minor planet center is able to calculate kind 410 00:19:49,189 --> 00:19:51,409 of a location on the sky where it should be. 411 00:19:51,409 --> 00:19:54,019 So we already have an idea of 412 00:19:54,019 --> 00:19:57,080 how the asteroid's gonna be moving so we take 413 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,140 that assumed motion and move with it. 414 00:20:01,820 --> 00:20:03,890 So my typical day 415 00:20:03,890 --> 00:20:07,909 or night I guess we typically observe for four 416 00:20:07,909 --> 00:20:11,030 to six nights straight and we come up to the mountain 417 00:20:11,030 --> 00:20:12,439 and we have dorms up here. 418 00:20:12,439 --> 00:20:14,929 So we stay up here the whole time we're observing 419 00:20:17,269 --> 00:20:20,300 and what happens is that we'll open the two telescopes we 420 00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:22,999 then have on our computers kind of a list 421 00:20:22,999 --> 00:20:24,890 of all the objects we can see 422 00:20:24,890 --> 00:20:26,509 that needs follow up right away. 423 00:20:26,509 --> 00:20:28,459 There's a few objects we can choose here. 424 00:20:28,459 --> 00:20:30,530 I like to go for virtual impactors 425 00:20:30,530 --> 00:20:32,209 'cause they're top of our list. 426 00:20:32,209 --> 00:20:34,159 They have a probability of hitting us. 427 00:20:34,159 --> 00:20:36,229 We'll pick the best targets for the night. 428 00:20:36,229 --> 00:20:39,290 Some of them come in as we're observing overnight. 429 00:20:39,290 --> 00:20:40,519 If they're newly discovered 430 00:20:40,519 --> 00:20:43,070 and they need follow up then so let's say I want to go 431 00:20:43,070 --> 00:20:45,890 for this object, what I would do is I would accept it in my 432 00:20:45,890 --> 00:20:48,169 queue and then I would accept the value 433 00:20:48,169 --> 00:20:49,759 and send it for recovery. 434 00:20:49,759 --> 00:20:53,009 What that would do is that would move the telescope. 435 00:20:53,009 --> 00:20:55,949 So we get three images of it to see it move 436 00:20:55,949 --> 00:20:57,989 and to see what speeds and move 437 00:20:57,989 --> 00:21:01,110 and then we measure its location on the sky, 438 00:21:01,110 --> 00:21:03,719 that is the measurement we report back 439 00:21:03,719 --> 00:21:05,370 to the minor planet center. 440 00:21:05,370 --> 00:21:09,150 Well that's an asteroid right here. 441 00:21:09,150 --> 00:21:12,959 It's really cool when you're looking like at an image from 442 00:21:12,959 --> 00:21:15,509 the sky and you see a moving dot. 443 00:21:15,509 --> 00:21:19,199 Like every time I find that moving asteroid, I'm excited 444 00:21:19,199 --> 00:21:23,130 by it because it means you found it like you found a thing 445 00:21:23,130 --> 00:21:27,360 in space that is moving, like it's right there on my image, 446 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:28,439 I can see it. 447 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:31,860 So right there is our object and it's moving right there. 448 00:21:31,860 --> 00:21:35,400 So the first image is in the star, so we can't measure that. 449 00:21:36,239 --> 00:21:38,669 But then the second and third image are right there. 450 00:21:38,669 --> 00:21:40,469 So we can actually measure those 451 00:21:40,469 --> 00:21:44,219 and that new measurement then helps better predict the orbit 452 00:21:44,219 --> 00:21:46,229 fit and thus better predict 453 00:21:46,229 --> 00:21:48,360 where it would be in the sky next time someone needs 454 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:49,919 to observe it to follow it up. 455 00:21:49,919 --> 00:21:52,469 - The most important thing is always get more data 456 00:21:52,469 --> 00:21:54,245 because the more data you get, 457 00:21:54,245 --> 00:21:55,590 the better you are at refining the 458 00:21:55,590 --> 00:21:56,699 orbit and know where the object 459 00:21:56,699 --> 00:21:57,699 - Is. 460 00:21:57,699 --> 00:21:59,580 And if you take another image a little bit further, 461 00:21:59,580 --> 00:22:01,860 you can then put another data point 462 00:22:01,860 --> 00:22:04,679 and then you can keep tracing that orbit around. 463 00:22:04,679 --> 00:22:07,259 - As you collect more observations, the orbit 464 00:22:07,259 --> 00:22:10,620 of the asteroid in question will get better and better. 465 00:22:10,620 --> 00:22:13,620 - I really like that I'm protecting the planet 466 00:22:13,620 --> 00:22:15,479 and yes, I'm not the one that's like 467 00:22:15,479 --> 00:22:17,189 with a cape pushing the asteroid away. 468 00:22:17,189 --> 00:22:20,100 That's not what I do. In some ways like my little 469 00:22:20,100 --> 00:22:23,610 contribution might help not just myself 470 00:22:23,610 --> 00:22:25,019 but someone in the future 471 00:22:25,919 --> 00:22:27,840 and I think it's very important to do that. 472 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,110 - So last night while surveying in an area of the sky 473 00:22:37,110 --> 00:22:40,019 where we don't typically find a lot of objects, 474 00:22:40,019 --> 00:22:42,509 I di discovered an object that had to be fairly large 475 00:22:42,509 --> 00:22:44,790 to be visible for where it was in the sky. 476 00:22:44,790 --> 00:22:46,499 - So here is the asteroid 477 00:22:46,499 --> 00:22:50,130 that Catalina Sky survey discovered a few days ago 478 00:22:50,130 --> 00:22:53,699 and we can also tell that it's a pretty big object. 479 00:22:53,699 --> 00:22:56,159 - The asteroid has to be observed for many weeks 480 00:22:56,159 --> 00:22:59,159 and months into the future so we can extend that data arc 481 00:22:59,159 --> 00:23:00,570 - So the orbit of 482 00:23:00,570 --> 00:23:03,509 that potentially hazardous asteroid is known 483 00:23:03,509 --> 00:23:04,679 into the future. 484 00:23:04,679 --> 00:23:07,259 - So the discovery arc of the asteroid consists 485 00:23:07,259 --> 00:23:09,900 of just four points of data over 20 minutes 486 00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:12,120 and that is a really small snapshot 487 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:14,159 of the entire orbit of the asteroid 488 00:23:14,159 --> 00:23:17,189 - And it was able to be followed up all around the globe so 489 00:23:17,189 --> 00:23:18,870 that we didn't lose that asteroid. 490 00:23:18,870 --> 00:23:20,489 And you can see that it's been followed up 491 00:23:20,489 --> 00:23:22,590 by several different telescopes right here. 492 00:23:22,590 --> 00:23:24,390 So the R arc length means it's been 493 00:23:24,390 --> 00:23:26,040 observed for more than a day. 494 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,709 So that is where it comes the closest 495 00:23:28,709 --> 00:23:30,689 to intersecting the earth's orbit 496 00:23:30,689 --> 00:23:33,150 and telescope around the world will continue taking 497 00:23:33,150 --> 00:23:34,979 observations of this object 498 00:23:34,979 --> 00:23:37,320 to keep seeing if it has a potential 499 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:38,489 of hitting the earth or not. 500 00:23:49,199 --> 00:23:51,459 - Well at the current rate of detection 501 00:23:51,459 --> 00:23:54,850 of near earth asteroids is gonna take us about another 30 502 00:23:54,850 --> 00:23:58,150 years before we have this catalog 503 00:23:58,150 --> 00:24:00,280 that we've been tasked by Congress to do. 504 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:03,999 - We've only discovered less than 40% of the 90% 505 00:24:03,999 --> 00:24:05,650 of the object we need to discover. 506 00:24:05,650 --> 00:24:07,239 - Finding the asteroids isn't something 507 00:24:07,239 --> 00:24:08,830 that can just happen overnight 508 00:24:08,830 --> 00:24:13,209 because telescopes can only see so far away 509 00:24:13,209 --> 00:24:15,370 or they can only see so faint into 510 00:24:15,370 --> 00:24:17,350 what they might be looking for out there. 511 00:24:17,350 --> 00:24:19,060 - Ground-based telescopes are kind of limited 512 00:24:19,060 --> 00:24:21,820 to looking at night away from the sun 513 00:24:21,820 --> 00:24:24,280 - And we have to wait for the solar system 514 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:26,275 to bring asteroids around. 515 00:24:26,275 --> 00:24:27,939 The earth is traveling around the sun, 516 00:24:27,939 --> 00:24:30,429 the asteroids are traveling around the sun 517 00:24:30,429 --> 00:24:32,110 and so it isn't possible 518 00:24:32,110 --> 00:24:35,350 to see the entire solar system at the same time. 519 00:24:35,350 --> 00:24:36,669 - It's hard to find asteroids 520 00:24:36,669 --> 00:24:39,009 because relative to the size of the earth 521 00:24:39,009 --> 00:24:41,560 and the distances within the inner solar system, 522 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:43,780 they don't get bright enough to spot 523 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:45,790 until they get closer to the planet. 524 00:24:45,790 --> 00:24:47,169 - One of the tricky things with searching 525 00:24:47,169 --> 00:24:50,739 for neuro objects is that some of them are extremely dark, 526 00:24:50,739 --> 00:24:53,560 they're darker than lumps of coal 527 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,259 and that means that when we look for them using the sunlight 528 00:24:56,259 --> 00:24:58,360 that reflects off their surfaces, they're actually hard 529 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:00,489 to spot because they're dim and faint. 530 00:25:00,489 --> 00:25:03,459 - There are asteroids out there that are very darkly colored 531 00:25:03,459 --> 00:25:06,610 and don't reflect a lot of light from the sun 532 00:25:06,610 --> 00:25:09,699 and so they're difficult for the telescopes on the ground 533 00:25:09,699 --> 00:25:12,699 to discover that are looking at the light 534 00:25:12,699 --> 00:25:14,350 that we can see with our eyes. 535 00:25:14,350 --> 00:25:16,124 - So how do you overcome this? 536 00:25:16,124 --> 00:25:18,265 We have to go into space, we have 537 00:25:18,265 --> 00:25:20,560 to use different wavelength and reflected light. 538 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,209 All the telescopes on the earth 539 00:25:22,209 --> 00:25:24,669 that are currently finding near the asteroids are 540 00:25:24,669 --> 00:25:26,830 discovering in the visible wavelength. 541 00:25:26,830 --> 00:25:29,919 They're primarily looking at light reflected 542 00:25:29,919 --> 00:25:31,689 by the asteroid from the sun. 543 00:25:31,689 --> 00:25:34,390 The sunlight hits the asteroid reflects just like 544 00:25:34,390 --> 00:25:35,590 everything in the solar system. 545 00:25:35,590 --> 00:25:37,780 - One way we can kind of get around this is instead 546 00:25:37,780 --> 00:25:40,300 of looking at the sunlight reflecting off their surfaces, 547 00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:43,659 we can use the heat that they emit to search for them. 548 00:25:43,659 --> 00:25:46,150 If we have a heat seeking telescope working at infrared 549 00:25:46,150 --> 00:25:49,269 wavelengths, even the dark objects just pop right out. 550 00:25:49,269 --> 00:25:50,590 They stick out very brightly 551 00:25:50,590 --> 00:25:53,080 because they've got a lot of heat that they reradiate 552 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,179 and we can see that energy. 553 00:25:55,179 --> 00:25:56,769 - Once you go into space, 554 00:25:56,769 --> 00:25:58,360 you're away from the heat of the earth. 555 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:00,640 You can start looking in the infrared wavelengths 556 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,610 because in in in the infrared wavelengths, 557 00:26:03,610 --> 00:26:06,580 asteroids have more energy being given out 558 00:26:06,580 --> 00:26:08,110 because a lot of them are darker. 559 00:26:08,110 --> 00:26:10,749 So they absorb that radiation in the daytime 560 00:26:10,749 --> 00:26:13,090 and in the nighttime they re reradiate. 561 00:26:13,090 --> 00:26:14,739 So they're very bright. You don't need 562 00:26:14,739 --> 00:26:18,400 that big a telescope in space to detect the asteroids 563 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,640 that you would from the earth using visible light 564 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,489 and near earth object surveyor is one such telescope. 565 00:26:24,489 --> 00:26:25,870 - The near earth object surveyor mission 566 00:26:25,870 --> 00:26:30,040 or NEO surveyor for short neo surveyor is a space telescope 567 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,890 that we're building that's designed to detect track 568 00:26:32,890 --> 00:26:34,600 and characterize asteroids 569 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:35,949 and comets that have the potential 570 00:26:35,949 --> 00:26:37,300 to get close to the earth. 571 00:26:37,300 --> 00:26:39,249 - That'll also be positioned in such a way 572 00:26:39,249 --> 00:26:41,320 that it can survey closer 573 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,380 to the sun than the telescopes on the ground. 574 00:26:44,380 --> 00:26:45,880 - Because of this nice tall sunshade, 575 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,550 we can actually point relatively close to the sun 576 00:26:48,550 --> 00:26:51,560 and that lets us look far across the solar system so 577 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,959 that we can spot the asteroids when they're far away from us 578 00:26:53,959 --> 00:26:55,759 - So that working in concert 579 00:26:55,759 --> 00:26:58,249 with the telescopes on the ground is going 580 00:26:58,249 --> 00:27:02,449 to really accelerate those objects getting into the catalog. 581 00:27:02,449 --> 00:27:04,070 - With new surveyor, we should be able 582 00:27:04,070 --> 00:27:07,759 to see something like a few hundred thousand new near earth 583 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:09,919 objects over the course of its survey. 584 00:27:09,919 --> 00:27:13,340 - We expect the numbers will increase by somewhere 585 00:27:13,340 --> 00:27:16,280 between factor of five to 10 in the next decade. 586 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,350 - They're gonna give us lots of data 587 00:27:18,350 --> 00:27:19,999 and they're gonna require from us 588 00:27:19,999 --> 00:27:21,380 to have different tools ready 589 00:27:21,380 --> 00:27:23,630 to handle the data in the best way we can. 590 00:27:23,630 --> 00:27:25,880 - This increase rate of detection in the number 591 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,550 of observations that are will be coming into the minor 592 00:27:28,550 --> 00:27:31,699 planet center does require the minor planet center 593 00:27:31,699 --> 00:27:35,330 to be able to process things at a more rapid rate 594 00:27:35,330 --> 00:27:36,530 and we are ready for it. 595 00:27:36,530 --> 00:27:39,739 - And hopefully that's gonna tell us a lot about the largest 596 00:27:39,739 --> 00:27:40,999 objects in the populations. 597 00:27:40,999 --> 00:27:43,159 The ones that are, are really truly large 598 00:27:43,159 --> 00:27:45,019 that have the potential for a large amount 599 00:27:45,019 --> 00:27:47,090 of ground damage if they were to impact the earth. 600 00:27:54,949 --> 00:27:57,350 - This is still kind of a golden age of discovery 601 00:27:57,350 --> 00:27:58,519 for asteroids. 602 00:27:58,519 --> 00:28:00,620 One day in the future we will have found all 603 00:28:00,620 --> 00:28:02,330 of these objects and this period 604 00:28:02,330 --> 00:28:04,400 of asteroid discovery will come to a close 605 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,709 for the most part, at least the, the rocks 606 00:28:06,709 --> 00:28:08,030 that could pose a significant threat 607 00:28:08,030 --> 00:28:11,330 to the earth will eventually all be catalog characterized 608 00:28:11,330 --> 00:28:14,719 and either dealt with or removed from the risk lists. 609 00:28:14,719 --> 00:28:17,840 - Any piece that you can do to help you should do it 610 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:19,610 and I think that's really important. 611 00:28:19,610 --> 00:28:22,850 You don't have to be a planetary scientist 612 00:28:22,850 --> 00:28:24,380 to go into planetary defense. 613 00:28:24,380 --> 00:28:28,249 - It's just an amazing thing to take science 614 00:28:28,249 --> 00:28:30,709 and apply it in such a way 615 00:28:30,709 --> 00:28:33,380 that it affects people's everyday lives. 616 00:28:33,380 --> 00:28:36,409 - Well for me it's very personally satisfying 617 00:28:36,409 --> 00:28:38,120 to be involved in in, 618 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,780 in an effort like this found my role in life so to speak. 619 00:28:41,780 --> 00:28:43,969 - So for me it is very personal 620 00:28:43,969 --> 00:28:47,900 because I have a chance, I'm fortunate enough to contribute, 621 00:28:47,900 --> 00:28:50,989 you know, using science to protect the humanity, you know, 622 00:28:50,989 --> 00:28:53,030 to protect the planet for that matter, you know, 623 00:28:53,030 --> 00:28:55,909 and everything that is on it because we only have one earth. 624 00:29:09,259 --> 00:29:12,499 - The explosion of a meteor over Russia last month injured 625 00:29:12,499 --> 00:29:14,479 1500 people. 626 00:29:14,479 --> 00:29:17,209 - The recent meteorite that hit the Russian murals 627 00:29:17,209 --> 00:29:20,120 with the force of an atomic bomb was a stark wake up call 628 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:21,679 regarding threats from space. 629 00:29:22,729 --> 00:29:24,679 - When the arid passed through the earth's atmosphere, 630 00:29:24,679 --> 00:29:26,390 it did so at a really high speed, 631 00:29:26,390 --> 00:29:29,300 something like 40,000 miles an hour. 632 00:29:29,300 --> 00:29:32,330 - I had an explosive energy about 25 times the ex, 633 00:29:32,330 --> 00:29:36,110 the bomb used in Hiroshima or about 470 kilotons of TNT. 634 00:29:37,939 --> 00:29:39,709 - It did cause a massive shockwave 635 00:29:39,709 --> 00:29:41,540 that shattered windows all over the city. 636 00:29:48,479 --> 00:29:51,780 - This much smaller meteorite was not observed prior 637 00:29:51,780 --> 00:29:53,550 to its entry into the atmosphere. 638 00:29:53,550 --> 00:29:56,610 - The bins impact came from the direction of the sun. 639 00:29:56,610 --> 00:29:59,820 - It was on a very difficult tr trajectory for us to be able 640 00:29:59,820 --> 00:30:02,040 to see from ground-based telescopes. 641 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,340 - Scientists testified about how these objects are tracked 642 00:30:05,340 --> 00:30:07,860 and how those risks can be minimized. 643 00:30:07,860 --> 00:30:09,419 - As we were reminded a couple of weeks ago, 644 00:30:09,419 --> 00:30:12,030 the earth is sometimes hit by asteroids. 645 00:30:12,030 --> 00:30:15,870 - Impacts have happened and they will happen in the future. 646 00:30:15,870 --> 00:30:17,790 - That asteroid was only about 18 meters across 647 00:30:17,790 --> 00:30:19,380 that would fit inside this room. Roughly 648 00:30:19,380 --> 00:30:21,449 - This asteroid never made a big impact 649 00:30:21,449 --> 00:30:22,650 crater on the ground. 650 00:30:22,650 --> 00:30:25,769 That's because it wasn't big enough originally to make it 651 00:30:25,769 --> 00:30:27,600 to the ground fully intact. 652 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:30,900 - So the impacts of airbus are different from an impact 653 00:30:30,900 --> 00:30:33,269 that is physically going to touch the ground. 654 00:30:33,269 --> 00:30:35,159 - The asteroid slammed through earth atmosphere. 655 00:30:35,159 --> 00:30:36,419 It was like hitting a brick wall 656 00:30:36,419 --> 00:30:38,489 and it just pulverized it into a million little 657 00:30:38,489 --> 00:30:40,080 pieces like this one here. 658 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,800 - Even just from that 20 meter asteroid disintegrating in 659 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:48,060 earth atmosphere, the shockwave from that that did damage 660 00:30:48,060 --> 00:30:50,550 - The inside of the asteroid is stony. 661 00:30:50,550 --> 00:30:52,050 It looks like an ordinary rock. 662 00:30:52,050 --> 00:30:55,945 - We need to know more about these objects 663 00:30:55,945 --> 00:30:57,840 that could impact us. 664 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:00,570 - How big is it? What it made out of? How does it spin? 665 00:31:00,570 --> 00:31:03,419 How much potential for damage it might pose on the ground? 666 00:31:03,419 --> 00:31:05,909 - The earth has been bombarded by asteroids of its history 667 00:31:05,909 --> 00:31:07,409 and it will be hit by asteroids. 668 00:31:07,409 --> 00:31:09,479 Again. The questions that we're trying 669 00:31:09,479 --> 00:31:12,659 to answer in planetary defense are when, where, 670 00:31:12,659 --> 00:31:14,064 and which rock is gonna do it. 671 00:31:35,999 --> 00:31:40,560 - So what we have here is a diversity of meteorites where 672 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,620 they range from stony meteorites like the ones you see here. 673 00:31:43,620 --> 00:31:46,499 A, a great example of that is 674 00:31:46,499 --> 00:31:49,080 bins which fell in Russia in 2013. 675 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,159 We want to understand the threat that is coming towards us. 676 00:31:53,159 --> 00:31:55,080 Part of understanding the threat is 677 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:56,699 understanding the capabilities. 678 00:31:56,699 --> 00:31:58,949 Oftentimes the physical make makeup 679 00:31:58,949 --> 00:32:01,890 of an object tells us about its capability, its impact, 680 00:32:01,890 --> 00:32:04,560 potential, what can it do on the earth? 681 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,489 So studying the composition tells us whether it's an iron, 682 00:32:08,489 --> 00:32:12,030 whether it's stones or stony iron or carbon ace. 683 00:32:12,030 --> 00:32:15,600 A weak object which has low density is not going to make it 684 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,570 to the, into the atmosphere and intact onto the earth. 685 00:32:18,570 --> 00:32:21,689 Okay? So you would have an airbus for example. 686 00:32:21,689 --> 00:32:24,060 Whereas if you have really dense object like this iron 687 00:32:24,060 --> 00:32:25,290 meteorite, it'll punch right 688 00:32:25,290 --> 00:32:27,959 through the atmosphere even if it's a small object 689 00:32:27,959 --> 00:32:30,090 and then it will create a crater like the meteor 690 00:32:30,090 --> 00:32:31,259 crater we see in Arizona. 691 00:32:33,749 --> 00:32:35,909 So what do these meteorite tell us, right? 692 00:32:35,909 --> 00:32:37,739 Why do we need to characterize these objects? 693 00:32:37,739 --> 00:32:41,249 So by understanding the composition we can figure out 694 00:32:41,249 --> 00:32:43,560 what is the mitigation mechanism we are gonna use 695 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,679 because the tools we would use vary vastly depending 696 00:32:47,679 --> 00:32:48,729 upon what they're made of. 697 00:32:53,979 --> 00:32:56,650 To understand what asteroids are, you had to go back to kind 698 00:32:56,650 --> 00:32:58,360 of the beginning of our solar system. 699 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,640 - Asteroids are rocky bodies that are kind 700 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,530 of left over fragments from when our 701 00:33:02,530 --> 00:33:03,790 solar system first formed. 702 00:33:03,790 --> 00:33:06,459 A long time ago, more than 4 billion years ago, 703 00:33:06,459 --> 00:33:08,800 - Major planets formed when the first solids condensed 704 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,269 out of the solar nebula. 705 00:33:10,269 --> 00:33:12,189 These solids slowly coalesced, you know, 706 00:33:12,189 --> 00:33:14,620 came together eventually to form what you call 707 00:33:14,620 --> 00:33:15,909 as planetesimals. 708 00:33:15,909 --> 00:33:17,769 These are objects that are, you know, a few tens 709 00:33:17,769 --> 00:33:19,749 to a few hundred kilometers across 710 00:33:19,749 --> 00:33:23,050 and you had, you know, internal heat, you know that led to 711 00:33:23,050 --> 00:33:24,580 what you call as differentiation. 712 00:33:24,580 --> 00:33:27,130 They'll have a core, a mantle and a crust. 713 00:33:27,130 --> 00:33:30,820 So these iron meteorites we see here represents the cores 714 00:33:30,820 --> 00:33:32,140 of those planetesimals. 715 00:33:33,429 --> 00:33:36,009 So we believe that they were more than a hundred 716 00:33:36,009 --> 00:33:39,070 planetesimals that differentiated between the orbits 717 00:33:39,070 --> 00:33:40,360 of Mars and Jupiter. 718 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,810 But most of these planet als were destroyed catastrophically 719 00:33:43,810 --> 00:33:47,949 due to impacts over the next few hundred million years. 720 00:33:47,949 --> 00:33:51,249 And what we see now in the asteroid belt on remnants 721 00:33:51,249 --> 00:33:53,169 of those catastrophic destructions, 722 00:33:53,169 --> 00:33:55,929 - Most of the material that made up our solar system kind 723 00:33:55,929 --> 00:33:57,669 of got swept up into the sun 724 00:33:57,669 --> 00:34:00,519 and to the individual planets. But not all of it, 725 00:34:00,519 --> 00:34:01,780 - You know, it's kind of like shattering a 726 00:34:01,780 --> 00:34:03,005 plate on the floor. 727 00:34:03,005 --> 00:34:05,650 You know you have a few big pieces but lots 728 00:34:05,650 --> 00:34:07,179 and lots of small pieces. 729 00:34:07,179 --> 00:34:10,330 - So asteroids are kind of those leftovers of the formation 730 00:34:10,330 --> 00:34:11,499 of the solar system. 731 00:34:11,499 --> 00:34:14,499 A lot of them keep their distance very nicely in the 732 00:34:14,499 --> 00:34:18,369 asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. 733 00:34:18,369 --> 00:34:20,229 But some of them over time 734 00:34:20,229 --> 00:34:22,990 because of being tweaked by the gravitational pole 735 00:34:22,990 --> 00:34:24,220 of Jupiter and whatnot, 736 00:34:24,220 --> 00:34:27,369 have made their way into the inner solar system. 737 00:34:27,369 --> 00:34:30,820 And so some of these leftovers from the formation 738 00:34:30,820 --> 00:34:33,970 of the solar system can get a little too close 739 00:34:33,970 --> 00:34:35,260 for comfort to earth. 740 00:34:35,260 --> 00:34:37,510 - That's how we end up with near the asteroids. 741 00:34:37,510 --> 00:34:39,220 - We'd really like to understand the distribution 742 00:34:39,220 --> 00:34:40,990 of these objects, their compositions 743 00:34:40,990 --> 00:34:42,669 and kind of where they come from. 744 00:34:42,669 --> 00:34:44,260 - So that's what we're trying to find out. 745 00:34:44,260 --> 00:34:46,479 - How do they leak into the inner part of the solar system 746 00:34:46,479 --> 00:34:48,459 and get into this region near the Earth's orbit? 747 00:35:01,059 --> 00:35:02,829 - You don't wanna just know that the asteroid is there. 748 00:35:02,829 --> 00:35:06,220 You wanna know how large is it, what is it made of? 749 00:35:06,220 --> 00:35:08,289 So there are telescopes that then go out 750 00:35:08,289 --> 00:35:11,709 and study particular characteristics of asteroids 751 00:35:11,709 --> 00:35:13,599 to the extent they can from the ground. 752 00:35:15,099 --> 00:35:18,550 - So we want to find out what is the composition 753 00:35:18,550 --> 00:35:20,559 of the object, how fast it's spinning, 754 00:35:20,559 --> 00:35:23,169 whether it's one object or two objects. 755 00:35:23,169 --> 00:35:25,570 And of course we want to know, you know, the mass 756 00:35:25,570 --> 00:35:27,369 of the object and for that we need 757 00:35:27,369 --> 00:35:29,979 to have an accurate idea on its size. 758 00:35:29,979 --> 00:35:31,510 That's where radar comes into play. 759 00:35:35,709 --> 00:35:37,389 - Yeah, that's cool to finally see it. 760 00:35:41,950 --> 00:35:45,200 - This is the biggest in this complex. 761 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:49,820 The it's 70 meters in diameter, all the other ones are 34. 762 00:35:50,809 --> 00:35:55,639 This is the most powerful planetary radar on earth. 763 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,789 So here we are at the Goldstone Solar System radar in the 764 00:36:01,789 --> 00:36:06,139 middle of the Mojave Desert about a few hours drive from 765 00:36:06,139 --> 00:36:08,959 Pasadena at the Jet Propulsion Lab. 766 00:36:08,959 --> 00:36:12,110 This is where I connect remotely to observe 767 00:36:12,110 --> 00:36:13,880 near earth asteroids. 768 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,930 I'm Shante Nunu, I'm a asteroid radar researcher here at 769 00:36:17,930 --> 00:36:19,820 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 770 00:36:23,869 --> 00:36:27,709 - Oh that's amazing. - Whenever an asteroid comes close 771 00:36:27,709 --> 00:36:30,559 to earth, we use this radar to observe it, 772 00:36:30,559 --> 00:36:33,470 which can tell us about the shape of the asteroid. 773 00:36:33,470 --> 00:36:36,079 It can show details on the surface of the asteroid such 774 00:36:36,079 --> 00:36:38,660 as ridges, concavities, craters. 775 00:36:38,660 --> 00:36:42,439 We can also measure the precise distance to the asteroid. 776 00:36:42,439 --> 00:36:44,450 - And then from all of that you get, 777 00:36:44,450 --> 00:36:46,639 you get really fantastic science 778 00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:49,189 and then you get that information you might need in the 779 00:36:49,189 --> 00:36:51,169 event an impact threat is discovered. 780 00:36:52,249 --> 00:36:54,260 - So radar is an active form 781 00:36:54,260 --> 00:36:56,360 of observing an asteroid in the sense 782 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:58,760 that we generate our own electromagnetic waves. 783 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,070 We use really high power transmitters 784 00:37:01,070 --> 00:37:03,349 to transmit electromagnetic waves in the 785 00:37:03,349 --> 00:37:05,150 direction of the asteroid. 786 00:37:05,150 --> 00:37:07,280 The asteroid reflects these waves. 787 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,889 They get distorted during this process 788 00:37:09,889 --> 00:37:12,110 and they come back towards earth. 789 00:37:12,110 --> 00:37:15,860 So you have signals from space coming in, reflecting 790 00:37:15,860 --> 00:37:20,749 of the primary dish, reflecting onto the secondary dish 791 00:37:20,749 --> 00:37:22,669 and then they reflect onto the instruments. 792 00:37:22,669 --> 00:37:26,749 We can compare the distorted received waveform 793 00:37:26,749 --> 00:37:28,220 with what we sent. 794 00:37:28,220 --> 00:37:30,380 And using this comparison we are able 795 00:37:30,380 --> 00:37:34,789 to generate highly detailed images or maps of the asteroid. 796 00:37:37,459 --> 00:37:41,660 So one example I can show you is 2024 mk, 797 00:37:41,660 --> 00:37:44,119 which was a recent target that we observed. 798 00:37:44,119 --> 00:37:47,360 We were able to obtain these very high resolution images 799 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,689 where each pixel is under two meters in resolution. 800 00:37:50,689 --> 00:37:52,010 If I zoom in here, 801 00:37:52,010 --> 00:37:55,610 you can see all these intricate details on the 802 00:37:55,610 --> 00:37:57,229 surface of the asteroid. 803 00:37:57,229 --> 00:38:00,650 Like you can see these radar dark regions, 804 00:38:00,650 --> 00:38:03,800 you can see it's a very irregular shape. 805 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,499 There's a lot of things that look like ridges. 806 00:38:06,499 --> 00:38:09,680 So we can, we can track these features 807 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:14,389 and we can measure the spin rate of this asteroid. 808 00:38:22,639 --> 00:38:25,789 So there's a control room in the pedestal. 809 00:38:25,789 --> 00:38:28,849 This is where the telescope operators sit. 810 00:38:28,849 --> 00:38:31,700 We send them the orbits of the asteroid, 811 00:38:31,700 --> 00:38:33,349 we send them the observing plan, 812 00:38:33,349 --> 00:38:35,300 we send them the configurations we want 813 00:38:35,300 --> 00:38:36,769 to observe the asteroids with. 814 00:38:36,769 --> 00:38:39,889 So this is where the telescope, the operators sit 815 00:38:39,889 --> 00:38:42,660 and this is where they control all the equipment from 816 00:38:42,660 --> 00:38:45,630 and that's where the data gets collected in the 817 00:38:45,630 --> 00:38:46,860 computer behind. 818 00:38:46,860 --> 00:38:48,389 And that's what we connect to 819 00:38:48,389 --> 00:38:50,849 to download the processed images at JPL. 820 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,439 This seems like a nice setup, so I'll send it 821 00:38:58,439 --> 00:39:00,209 to the telescope operators. 822 00:39:02,579 --> 00:39:04,439 When we start observing an asteroid, 823 00:39:04,439 --> 00:39:06,599 we need a very accurate orbit 824 00:39:06,599 --> 00:39:09,840 so we can point accurately at the target. 825 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,539 We get a spectra, update the orbit, 826 00:39:12,539 --> 00:39:16,680 we get a course revolution image, we update the orbit again. 827 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:21,030 And so we transmit for a fixed amount of time, 828 00:39:21,030 --> 00:39:24,059 which is the round trip light time to the asteroid. 829 00:39:24,059 --> 00:39:26,700 And as soon as that time elapses, 830 00:39:26,700 --> 00:39:28,680 that is when we start receiving the echo. 831 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,410 We switch from the transmitter to the receiver. 832 00:39:31,410 --> 00:39:36,410 It takes a few seconds to travel a few million miles 833 00:39:36,450 --> 00:39:39,660 back into space and reflect off the asteroid. 834 00:39:39,660 --> 00:39:43,139 So we transmit for an entire round trip time 835 00:39:43,139 --> 00:39:47,309 and then as soon as the echoes start reaching back 836 00:39:47,309 --> 00:39:49,869 to the telescope, that's when we switch to the receiver and, 837 00:39:49,869 --> 00:39:53,099 and then we record the whole transmitted wave. 838 00:39:53,099 --> 00:39:57,300 So for one round trip time and that constitutes one image. 839 00:39:57,300 --> 00:39:59,789 And once we get a good orbit, 840 00:39:59,789 --> 00:40:02,789 we can start getting these higher resolution images. 841 00:40:08,669 --> 00:40:09,900 It's always exciting 842 00:40:09,900 --> 00:40:13,709 because it's the first time anyone is looking at the 843 00:40:13,709 --> 00:40:16,650 features on the surface of this asteroid. 844 00:40:16,650 --> 00:40:18,689 Most of the asteroids that we observe, 845 00:40:18,689 --> 00:40:20,459 we've not seen them before. 846 00:40:20,459 --> 00:40:23,999 And so whatever you see with the radar is a surprise 847 00:40:23,999 --> 00:40:27,360 and a lot of the times it's discovering something new. 848 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:30,450 It is very cool to know that at least for a few minutes 849 00:40:30,450 --> 00:40:31,829 or maybe even a few days, 850 00:40:31,829 --> 00:40:35,974 you're the only person in the world who knows this thing. 851 00:40:35,974 --> 00:40:39,510 It's, it's very exciting, it's a very exciting feeling. 852 00:40:39,510 --> 00:40:42,630 There's a sense of responsibility knowing that, 853 00:40:42,630 --> 00:40:45,329 that I'm part of such an important team 854 00:40:45,329 --> 00:40:48,809 and we are all tackling such an important problem 855 00:40:48,809 --> 00:40:52,079 of asteroid threat assessment and medication. 856 00:40:54,539 --> 00:40:56,369 - Let's say we discovered something 857 00:40:56,369 --> 00:40:59,369 and we only had a small window to observe it 858 00:40:59,369 --> 00:41:03,479 and quickly turn around information about its properties. 859 00:41:03,479 --> 00:41:05,160 - What if we find an asteroid that's going 860 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:07,349 to impact the earth next week? 861 00:41:07,349 --> 00:41:09,660 - Then all of a sudden an opportunity came up 862 00:41:09,660 --> 00:41:14,070 that nature gave us an asteroid designated 2023 863 00:41:14,070 --> 00:41:16,619 DZ two was discovered. 864 00:41:16,619 --> 00:41:18,209 - So this object was discovered 865 00:41:18,209 --> 00:41:21,269 by a team in the Canary Islands in in Europe 866 00:41:21,269 --> 00:41:23,309 - When it was discovered, the observations were directly 867 00:41:23,309 --> 00:41:25,139 sent to the minor planet center 868 00:41:25,139 --> 00:41:26,519 and then we publish everything. 869 00:41:26,519 --> 00:41:30,180 The role of the minor planet center is to distinguish 870 00:41:30,180 --> 00:41:32,550 what is known and what is not known. 871 00:41:32,550 --> 00:41:35,550 We define them as a complete new object. 872 00:41:35,550 --> 00:41:38,010 And so in the following couple of hours, a lot 873 00:41:38,010 --> 00:41:39,280 of observers from all over the 874 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:40,660 world that started observing it. 875 00:41:40,660 --> 00:41:42,820 And then it was like a really large impact probabilities, 876 00:41:42,820 --> 00:41:44,650 which means it could impact the earth 877 00:41:44,650 --> 00:41:46,360 - Over a period of a few days. 878 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:49,570 It was had high impact potential 879 00:41:49,570 --> 00:41:51,309 three years from the discovery date 880 00:41:51,309 --> 00:41:55,090 - And originally it had a decently high probability 881 00:41:55,090 --> 00:41:58,720 of hitting earth at its first discovery 882 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:02,079 and then it was followed up and the probability went up 883 00:42:02,079 --> 00:42:04,720 - And that this IMP probability stayed high even if people 884 00:42:04,720 --> 00:42:06,309 were sending more and more observations. 885 00:42:06,309 --> 00:42:09,070 Which means that the path on which the asteroid was, 886 00:42:09,070 --> 00:42:11,079 was really towards the Earth. 887 00:42:11,079 --> 00:42:13,990 - 2023 DZ two was a significant asteroid. 888 00:42:13,990 --> 00:42:16,329 That kind of close approach to the earth of a rock 889 00:42:16,329 --> 00:42:19,930 that size might only happen a handful of times per century. 890 00:42:19,930 --> 00:42:21,070 - And then eventually it turned out 891 00:42:21,070 --> 00:42:22,539 that it was coming really close 892 00:42:22,539 --> 00:42:23,860 but it wasn't hitting the earth. 893 00:42:23,860 --> 00:42:25,720 - Other observations had been made 894 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:28,990 to take 2023 DZ two off the risk list. 895 00:42:28,990 --> 00:42:30,249 So that was a good thing. 896 00:42:30,249 --> 00:42:33,490 - Suddenly the probability of hitting earth goes down 897 00:42:33,490 --> 00:42:36,490 and that's because the more points you gather, 898 00:42:36,490 --> 00:42:38,829 the better refined your orbit can become. 899 00:42:38,829 --> 00:42:41,320 - At nasa, we thought this would be a good opportunity 900 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:45,160 to launch an observing campaign in coordination 901 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:48,130 with the International Asteroid Warning Network to try 902 00:42:48,130 --> 00:42:50,530 to get the worldwide community together 903 00:42:50,530 --> 00:42:53,769 to gather observations about physical properties 904 00:42:53,769 --> 00:42:56,860 of an asteroid and turn that around quickly. 905 00:42:56,860 --> 00:43:00,309 - So we essentially had a very short five day campaign 906 00:43:00,309 --> 00:43:03,639 where we had to reduce the impact risk 907 00:43:03,639 --> 00:43:05,079 by observing the object 908 00:43:05,079 --> 00:43:07,780 and collecting more positions along its orbit, 909 00:43:07,780 --> 00:43:11,860 understand its rotation period, understand its composition, 910 00:43:11,860 --> 00:43:13,720 try and observe it with radar 911 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:17,019 to get some physical information like the size and volume 912 00:43:17,019 --> 00:43:21,039 and try and input all this information in an impact hazard 913 00:43:21,039 --> 00:43:23,650 model to see what would be the impact on the ground. 914 00:43:23,650 --> 00:43:25,240 So we were able to pull all 915 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:27,880 of this stuff off within a matter of five days. 916 00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:32,860 - We took this real world opportunity to exercise the whole 917 00:43:32,860 --> 00:43:36,880 system and campaign that would be done if a potential impact 918 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:38,590 or was found 919 00:43:38,590 --> 00:43:40,689 - In case we were ever faced with a situation 920 00:43:40,689 --> 00:43:44,499 where we needed to do that to measure the properties 921 00:43:44,499 --> 00:43:47,499 of an asteroid during a short window in a coordinated 922 00:43:47,499 --> 00:43:50,439 fashion with the worldwide community. 923 00:43:50,439 --> 00:43:53,559 - So we used the Goldstone radar to observe it 924 00:43:53,559 --> 00:43:56,229 and we managed to obtain images with the resolutions 925 00:43:56,229 --> 00:43:59,200 of under four meters on this asteroid, which showed 926 00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:01,780 that it was an irregular body, 927 00:44:01,780 --> 00:44:04,450 it was spinning extremely rapidly 928 00:44:05,380 --> 00:44:09,700 based on the visible extents in the radar images, 929 00:44:09,700 --> 00:44:12,039 we could tell that the asteroid was somewhere about 930 00:44:12,039 --> 00:44:13,240 30 to 40 meters. 931 00:44:13,240 --> 00:44:15,010 So a bit smaller than 932 00:44:15,010 --> 00:44:18,400 what we could estimate using just the visible, 933 00:44:19,300 --> 00:44:23,439 it was an important target to practice working together 934 00:44:23,439 --> 00:44:26,889 to exercise the systems in order to refine the orbit 935 00:44:26,889 --> 00:44:30,309 and improve the characterization of the asteroid. 936 00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:33,220 - So my students 937 00:44:33,220 --> 00:44:35,019 and I, we observed this object using 938 00:44:35,019 --> 00:44:36,639 telescopes one on campus. 939 00:44:36,639 --> 00:44:39,439 We use the NASA infrared telescope facility, 940 00:44:39,439 --> 00:44:41,119 which is on Monica Hawaii. 941 00:44:41,119 --> 00:44:43,729 It is one of the few telescopes in the world that is capable 942 00:44:43,729 --> 00:44:46,249 of telling what asteroids are made of. 943 00:44:46,249 --> 00:44:48,680 So we try and do geology with the telescope. 944 00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:50,749 We're trying to do prospecting, you know, trying 945 00:44:50,749 --> 00:44:53,539 to understand what minerals are there on these asteroids 946 00:44:53,539 --> 00:44:55,639 and using those ral signatures, kind 947 00:44:55,639 --> 00:44:58,340 of the spectral fingerprints to identify 948 00:44:58,340 --> 00:45:01,910 what fingerprint matches with those of as meteorites 949 00:45:01,910 --> 00:45:03,559 that we have in the lab. 950 00:45:03,559 --> 00:45:06,164 So that's what we were trying to do with DZ two. 951 00:45:06,164 --> 00:45:09,019 - So this is the 2023 DZ two, 952 00:45:09,019 --> 00:45:11,240 - This is the motion, this is the, the object 953 00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:13,939 that's moving there is DZ two, correct? 954 00:45:13,939 --> 00:45:15,709 - Yeah. So you can see it moving through the starfield 955 00:45:15,709 --> 00:45:17,479 - Starfield and that's the spectrum 956 00:45:17,479 --> 00:45:19,760 of the visible spectrum right next to it. 957 00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:22,220 The first order visible spectrum. Yeah. 958 00:45:22,220 --> 00:45:24,499 So in the end what we assess about DZ two was 959 00:45:24,499 --> 00:45:28,099 that it was a much brighter than we expected 960 00:45:28,099 --> 00:45:30,110 because when an asteroid is discovered, we don't know 961 00:45:30,110 --> 00:45:31,700 how bright or dark it is. 962 00:45:31,700 --> 00:45:34,519 So that sets a range in size, okay? 963 00:45:34,519 --> 00:45:37,340 You can slowly narrow down the size depending on more 964 00:45:37,340 --> 00:45:38,869 characterization information. 965 00:45:38,869 --> 00:45:42,200 So if you have radar that gives you a very accurate, 966 00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:43,639 you know, diameter, you know, 967 00:45:43,639 --> 00:45:45,320 pretty close to the final thing. 968 00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:47,300 If you have thermal infrared measurements, 969 00:45:47,300 --> 00:45:48,769 you can constrain the observation. 970 00:45:48,769 --> 00:45:50,990 So you can constrain the diameter for that. 971 00:45:50,990 --> 00:45:52,249 But you also have composition, 972 00:45:52,249 --> 00:45:54,200 composition tells you something about 973 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:55,400 how bright the object is. 974 00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:57,740 So that gives you an additional piece of information. 975 00:45:57,740 --> 00:46:01,099 So no one technique gives you the ultimate answer, 976 00:46:01,099 --> 00:46:02,749 but complementary sets 977 00:46:02,749 --> 00:46:04,490 of information from different telescopes, 978 00:46:04,490 --> 00:46:07,400 different techniques kind of let us converge to 979 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:08,510 to, to one answer. 980 00:46:08,510 --> 00:46:12,289 And the case of DZ two, what we've done is with the IRTF, 981 00:46:12,289 --> 00:46:15,499 we spectrally characterize, we looked at the light reflected 982 00:46:15,499 --> 00:46:18,050 of DZ two in different wavelengths 983 00:46:18,050 --> 00:46:21,499 and in the infrared, in the wavelengths we cannot see, 984 00:46:21,499 --> 00:46:23,059 but rattlesnakes can see, you know, kind 985 00:46:23,059 --> 00:46:24,470 of like heat seeking stuff. 986 00:46:24,470 --> 00:46:26,720 What we see is a unique spectral signature 987 00:46:26,720 --> 00:46:28,430 for a specific mineral 988 00:46:28,430 --> 00:46:30,919 that is only found in this particular type 989 00:46:30,919 --> 00:46:32,689 of meteorite called alite. 990 00:46:32,689 --> 00:46:34,910 And we have a few of those in our collection. 991 00:46:34,910 --> 00:46:37,700 You know, both that fell on the earth fell in Antarctica. 992 00:46:37,700 --> 00:46:39,260 So here's an example of it. 993 00:46:39,260 --> 00:46:42,139 This is an alite, it's essentially white, okay? 994 00:46:42,139 --> 00:46:44,570 It's reflecting 60 to 70% of the light. 995 00:46:44,570 --> 00:46:47,059 What we do is that take this meteorite, 996 00:46:47,059 --> 00:46:48,829 crush them into a powder 997 00:46:48,829 --> 00:46:52,789 and put them in a lab spectrometer to get the spectrum 998 00:46:52,789 --> 00:46:53,900 of this meteorite. 999 00:46:53,900 --> 00:46:56,119 In other words, how is light interacting 1000 00:46:56,119 --> 00:46:58,249 with it at different wavelengths? 1001 00:46:58,249 --> 00:47:00,680 So what we do here is that we take a sample 1002 00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:03,019 and then we crush it and we have it, you know, 1003 00:47:03,019 --> 00:47:05,150 being observed by the spectrometer 1004 00:47:05,150 --> 00:47:07,340 that we have it here instead of the sun. 1005 00:47:07,340 --> 00:47:10,099 We have a light source that is reflecting, you know, 1006 00:47:10,099 --> 00:47:14,180 off the sample and we're collecting visible infrared spectra 1007 00:47:14,180 --> 00:47:15,860 off that sample that we have. 1008 00:47:15,860 --> 00:47:19,430 Spectrum is nothing but light split into many wavelengths 1009 00:47:19,430 --> 00:47:22,700 and using that spectrum we compare the same thing we get 1010 00:47:22,700 --> 00:47:25,519 from the NASA infrared telescope and we can try 1011 00:47:25,519 --> 00:47:27,470 and match, you know, the spectrum 1012 00:47:27,470 --> 00:47:31,579 of the meteorite in the lab versus the telescopic spectrum, 1013 00:47:31,579 --> 00:47:33,709 you know, off the near earth object itself. 1014 00:47:33,709 --> 00:47:35,459 And by taking this spectrum 1015 00:47:35,459 --> 00:47:37,650 and comparing it to the one that's coming off the telescope 1016 00:47:38,550 --> 00:47:40,680 off the near earth asteroid, we should be able to compare 1017 00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:42,780 and tell what the near earth asteroid is made of. 1018 00:47:42,780 --> 00:47:44,309 Because it was so bright, 1019 00:47:44,309 --> 00:47:46,019 you don't need the object to be that big. 1020 00:47:46,019 --> 00:47:47,490 So it ended up being smaller than 1021 00:47:47,490 --> 00:47:49,889 what we expected of the size range. 1022 00:47:49,889 --> 00:47:52,650 And because if it's smaller, you know, hopefully we pray 1023 00:47:52,650 --> 00:47:54,749 that the atmosphere takes care of it 1024 00:47:54,749 --> 00:47:56,550 and we won't have much impact on the ground. 1025 00:47:56,550 --> 00:47:58,950 So that's what ended up happening is that we managed 1026 00:47:58,950 --> 00:47:59,999 to nail the composition 1027 00:47:59,999 --> 00:48:02,999 of the object very well using the NASA 1028 00:48:02,999 --> 00:48:04,289 infer telescope facility. 1029 00:48:04,289 --> 00:48:08,669 - So 2023 DZ two was a really interesting 1030 00:48:08,669 --> 00:48:13,410 example of planetary defense working 1031 00:48:13,410 --> 00:48:15,090 on an international scale. 1032 00:48:15,090 --> 00:48:17,999 So it's really a resounding success in 1033 00:48:17,999 --> 00:48:20,970 multiple organizations across the planet coming together. 1034 00:48:20,970 --> 00:48:23,280 And the fact that we were able to discover it, 1035 00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:25,709 characterize it, determine it was a risk, 1036 00:48:25,709 --> 00:48:27,209 and then remove that risk all 1037 00:48:27,209 --> 00:48:28,320 before it passed close 1038 00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,840 to the planet was a pretty amazing feat. 1039 00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:32,729 - Let's say we do find something 1040 00:48:32,729 --> 00:48:36,059 that poses an impact threat to earth. What next? 1041 00:48:36,059 --> 00:48:39,300 - The day is coming when Earth will get impacted. 1042 00:48:39,300 --> 00:48:40,740 The D source went to extend 1043 00:48:40,740 --> 00:48:42,360 because they didn't have a space program. 1044 00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:43,439 We do have one 1045 00:48:43,439 --> 00:48:46,769 - We can, so why stop there? 1046 00:48:58,889 --> 00:49:03,889 - 10, 9, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 1047 00:49:11,309 --> 00:49:13,410 - And lift off of the Falcon nine 1048 00:49:13,410 --> 00:49:17,160 and DART on NASA's first planetary defense test 1049 00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:20,130 to intentionally crash into an asteroid. 1050 00:49:25,740 --> 00:49:30,329 - We're embarking on a new era of humankind. 1051 00:49:32,070 --> 00:49:34,559 - We're doing this mission to prove 1052 00:49:34,559 --> 00:49:37,349 that we can deflect an asteroid 1053 00:49:37,349 --> 00:49:40,889 - Even if we do everything right, our sensors work well, 1054 00:49:40,889 --> 00:49:42,570 our spacecraft is doing well. 1055 00:49:42,570 --> 00:49:44,789 Even then we might still miss 1056 00:49:57,119 --> 00:50:00,454 - 4, 3, 2, 1. 1057 00:50:05,459 --> 00:50:08,519 - For the first time ever, 1058 00:50:08,519 --> 00:50:12,269 humanity has changed the orbit 1059 00:50:12,269 --> 00:50:14,160 of a planetary body. 1060 00:50:16,169 --> 00:50:19,169 - NASA confirms 1061 00:50:19,169 --> 00:50:23,189 that DART successfully changed the targeted 1062 00:50:23,189 --> 00:50:25,169 asteroids trajectory. 1063 00:50:25,169 --> 00:50:29,099 Now this is a watershed moment for planetary defense 1064 00:50:30,539 --> 00:50:32,910 and a watershed moment for humanity 1065 00:50:55,300 --> 00:50:57,519 - As was demonstrated with the DART mission. 1066 00:50:57,519 --> 00:50:59,499 If an asteroid were ever discovered 1067 00:50:59,499 --> 00:51:01,780 that could pose an impact threat to earth 1068 00:51:01,780 --> 00:51:04,150 and we do have the capability 1069 00:51:04,150 --> 00:51:07,510 to deflect an asteroid in space 1070 00:51:07,510 --> 00:51:09,459 and to change its orbit. 1071 00:51:10,300 --> 00:51:13,119 - You know, once we've found an object 1072 00:51:13,119 --> 00:51:15,820 and determined that it could be an impact threat 1073 00:51:15,820 --> 00:51:17,740 to the earth, what do we do to mitigate it? 1074 00:51:20,439 --> 00:51:22,869 - Eventually we have to be ready 1075 00:51:22,869 --> 00:51:25,150 to nudge an asteroid off its scores. 1076 00:51:25,150 --> 00:51:27,700 - NASA's recently demonstrated a a particular type 1077 00:51:27,700 --> 00:51:30,669 of mitigation technique that we call kinetic impact 1078 00:51:30,669 --> 00:51:33,160 - In case there was an asteroid coming towards earth 1079 00:51:33,160 --> 00:51:35,769 and you are there, you can actually stop it. 1080 00:51:35,769 --> 00:51:38,169 I mean that's kind of fantastic. 1081 00:51:38,169 --> 00:51:41,110 - Our double asteroid redirection test dart always a 1082 00:51:41,110 --> 00:51:44,680 demonstration of using a kinetic impactor technique. 1083 00:51:44,680 --> 00:51:45,999 - The idea is pretty simple. 1084 00:51:45,999 --> 00:51:47,740 You basically just take a spacecraft 1085 00:51:47,740 --> 00:51:48,999 and you run it into an asteroid 1086 00:51:48,999 --> 00:51:50,889 and bump it out of the way what 1087 00:51:50,889 --> 00:51:52,300 - You think science fiction. 1088 00:51:52,300 --> 00:51:53,680 But this is real. 1089 00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:56,950 Never in my life would I have thought I would take a couple 1090 00:51:56,950 --> 00:51:58,360 hundred million dollars spacecraft 1091 00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:01,180 and crash it into an asteroid. 1092 00:52:01,180 --> 00:52:04,660 - Its main goal was to go to an asteroid with its moon 1093 00:52:04,660 --> 00:52:06,760 to hit the moon and see 1094 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:09,459 how much it changed the orbit of the moon. 1095 00:52:09,459 --> 00:52:12,729 - The moonlit dim morphos, which orbits the asteroid did. 1096 00:52:12,729 --> 00:52:15,130 Amos, in order to change dim Morphos orbit 1097 00:52:15,130 --> 00:52:17,349 and show that we can deflect incoming 1098 00:52:17,349 --> 00:52:18,639 asteroids if we need to. 1099 00:52:18,639 --> 00:52:21,459 - Dart will only be changing the period of the orbit 1100 00:52:21,459 --> 00:52:23,829 of Dior FOSS via a tiny amount. 1101 00:52:23,829 --> 00:52:26,740 And really that's all that's needed In the event 1102 00:52:26,740 --> 00:52:30,309 that an asteroid is discovered well ahead of time 1103 00:52:30,309 --> 00:52:31,749 before it might impact 1104 00:52:31,749 --> 00:52:34,990 - Earth and space just a little bit is just enough 1105 00:52:34,990 --> 00:52:37,059 to make an asteroid actually miss us. 1106 00:52:37,059 --> 00:52:40,150 So behind me you see the spacecraft, it's really cool 1107 00:52:40,150 --> 00:52:41,800 to see it coming together in 1108 00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:42,800 - Real life. 1109 00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:44,829 It is fantastic to see it in real life, 1110 00:52:44,829 --> 00:52:48,249 - To see it turn from ideas into real pieces 1111 00:52:48,249 --> 00:52:50,410 that are gonna go into space. 1112 00:52:50,410 --> 00:52:52,599 - The solar arrays will actually roll out 1113 00:52:52,599 --> 00:52:54,010 to 28 feet in length. 1114 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:56,680 Once the solar arrays are deployed, it's going 1115 00:52:56,680 --> 00:52:58,150 to be the size of a school bus. 1116 00:52:58,150 --> 00:53:00,430 As the solar array opens out, it's going 1117 00:53:00,430 --> 00:53:02,169 to swing out in this direction. 1118 00:53:04,749 --> 00:53:06,430 To me the most important thing 1119 00:53:06,430 --> 00:53:08,530 and the most exciting things is all the 1120 00:53:08,530 --> 00:53:09,939 technical challenges. 1121 00:53:09,939 --> 00:53:11,320 My job was primarily 1122 00:53:11,320 --> 00:53:13,059 to make sure all the systems on the 1123 00:53:13,059 --> 00:53:14,169 spacecraft work together. 1124 00:53:14,169 --> 00:53:18,160 On top, you see the next sea thruster over here is 1125 00:53:18,160 --> 00:53:19,599 our star tracker. 1126 00:53:19,599 --> 00:53:21,849 And then over here is our high gain antenna. 1127 00:53:21,849 --> 00:53:23,559 My job is to make sure we launch. 1128 00:53:23,559 --> 00:53:26,019 My job is to make sure we're able to receive data back. 1129 00:53:26,019 --> 00:53:29,740 My job is to make sure we hit, there's Draco on the bottom 1130 00:53:29,740 --> 00:53:32,479 of the spacecraft as well, of course is integration 1131 00:53:32,479 --> 00:53:32,959 and test 1132 00:53:36,919 --> 00:53:37,519 the asteroids. 1133 00:53:37,519 --> 00:53:39,410 Only two football fields in size 1134 00:53:39,410 --> 00:53:42,499 - We're flying at over six kilometers a second. 1135 00:53:42,499 --> 00:53:45,530 - 30 days out we see one pixel on our field of view. 1136 00:53:45,530 --> 00:53:46,820 - They can see did Amos and demo 1137 00:53:46,820 --> 00:53:47,990 Morphos is one point of light. 1138 00:53:47,990 --> 00:53:51,169 - About four hours out our spacecraft becomes autonomous. 1139 00:53:51,169 --> 00:53:53,840 - And then that's where everything gets really exciting. 1140 00:53:53,840 --> 00:53:56,389 - You actually are seeing impact. 1141 00:53:59,599 --> 00:54:02,329 - The algorithm has to identify 1142 00:54:02,329 --> 00:54:05,780 and hit the target in the field of view of the camera. 1143 00:54:05,780 --> 00:54:08,150 And so you could just imagine if it was a human being 1144 00:54:08,150 --> 00:54:11,180 joysticking this because we don't know for sure 1145 00:54:11,180 --> 00:54:12,680 what the asteroids look like. 1146 00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:15,229 Our simulation gives us the capability 1147 00:54:15,229 --> 00:54:18,019 to use different asteroid shapes 1148 00:54:18,019 --> 00:54:20,209 and asteroid objects to see 1149 00:54:20,209 --> 00:54:22,820 that our smart NAV algorithm performs 1150 00:54:22,820 --> 00:54:24,559 against all these unknowns 1151 00:54:24,559 --> 00:54:26,419 - Astronomers that are going to measure 1152 00:54:26,419 --> 00:54:28,880 how much DART changed DIM Morphos is orbit using 1153 00:54:28,880 --> 00:54:31,280 ground-based telescopes all over the world. 1154 00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:33,919 These curves show the brightness change due 1155 00:54:33,919 --> 00:54:36,349 to dim morphos moving in front of and behind. 1156 00:54:36,349 --> 00:54:37,760 Did Amos, we can tell 1157 00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:40,099 how quickly DIM Morphos is moving around. 1158 00:54:40,099 --> 00:54:43,280 Did Amos, we make these measurements before DART arrives 1159 00:54:43,280 --> 00:54:45,019 and then this is the same technique that we'll use 1160 00:54:45,019 --> 00:54:46,579 after the impact to determine 1161 00:54:46,579 --> 00:54:47,780 how much we've changed the orbit by 1162 00:54:56,510 --> 00:54:58,400 - This is Lowell Observatory. 1163 00:54:58,400 --> 00:55:00,769 Lowell is one of many observatories around the world 1164 00:55:00,769 --> 00:55:02,539 that will be observing the dark impact. 1165 00:55:02,539 --> 00:55:05,930 NASA's first ever planetary defense test mission to see 1166 00:55:05,930 --> 00:55:08,209 how much a spacecraft impact can 1167 00:55:08,209 --> 00:55:09,860 deflect an asteroid in its orbit. 1168 00:55:09,860 --> 00:55:11,570 This is where Pluto was discovered 1169 00:55:11,570 --> 00:55:14,030 and we are still doing research in all areas 1170 00:55:14,030 --> 00:55:15,499 of astronomy today. 1171 00:55:15,499 --> 00:55:16,400 So let's go check it out. 1172 00:55:21,499 --> 00:55:24,590 This is the Pluto telescope, the telescope that was used 1173 00:55:24,590 --> 00:55:27,380 to discover Pluto almost a hundred years ago. 1174 00:55:27,380 --> 00:55:28,970 So here we are at the Clark Telescope. 1175 00:55:28,970 --> 00:55:31,639 This is where first of all, low's at to observe Mars. 1176 00:55:33,740 --> 00:55:35,869 Let's head on over to the Lowell Discovery telescope about 1177 00:55:35,869 --> 00:55:38,030 an hour south of Flagstaff, which is where we are going 1178 00:55:38,030 --> 00:55:40,280 to be collecting data for the DART mission. 1179 00:55:40,280 --> 00:55:42,740 And the reason we're all the way out here in the middle 1180 00:55:42,740 --> 00:55:45,530 of this forest is that we have really dark skies here. 1181 00:55:55,010 --> 00:55:57,050 And this is the lull discovery telescope. 1182 00:55:57,050 --> 00:55:59,570 This is what a 4.3 meter telescope looks like. 1183 00:55:59,570 --> 00:56:03,019 This is what we'll be using to study DIDYMO and DIM Morphos. 1184 00:56:03,019 --> 00:56:04,490 In the days and weeks 1185 00:56:04,490 --> 00:56:05,869 after DART impact, 1186 00:56:05,869 --> 00:56:08,900 the DART spacecraft will be hitting an asteroid called Dior 1187 00:56:08,900 --> 00:56:11,329 foss a special because it's a binary asteroid, 1188 00:56:11,329 --> 00:56:12,829 which means a satellite 1189 00:56:12,829 --> 00:56:14,990 around a larger asteroid called Diddy Mouses 1190 00:56:14,990 --> 00:56:17,510 and DART will actually be hitting DIM morphos. 1191 00:56:17,510 --> 00:56:19,099 And what we will be measuring is 1192 00:56:19,099 --> 00:56:21,709 how much DART changes the orbit 1193 00:56:21,709 --> 00:56:23,419 of DIM morphos around Didymo. 1194 00:56:23,419 --> 00:56:25,220 And so this is an important test 1195 00:56:25,220 --> 00:56:29,039 for planetary defense mitigation strategies in case we 1196 00:56:29,039 --> 00:56:30,450 have to do this for real. 1197 00:56:30,450 --> 00:56:32,760 The Lowell Discovery Telescope is one of many telescopes 1198 00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:34,470 around the world, which will be used 1199 00:56:34,470 --> 00:56:36,630 to study did IMOs and Dior fos. 1200 00:56:36,630 --> 00:56:38,849 It's really a global coordinated effort. 1201 00:56:38,849 --> 00:56:42,059 And what we're looking at here is a large 4.3 meter primary 1202 00:56:42,059 --> 00:56:44,760 mirror that's in the middle of the telescope tube here. 1203 00:56:44,760 --> 00:56:46,769 Up at the top is a secondary mirror. 1204 00:56:46,769 --> 00:56:48,209 The secondary mirror up top there is 1205 00:56:48,209 --> 00:56:50,459 what is focusing the light down onto the instruments 1206 00:56:50,459 --> 00:56:52,680 and allows us to take images with the camera 1207 00:56:52,680 --> 00:56:54,869 that's located down at the bottom. 1208 00:56:54,869 --> 00:56:56,999 This is maybe one of my favorite hidden rooms 1209 00:56:56,999 --> 00:56:58,260 at the telescope. 1210 00:56:58,260 --> 00:57:00,090 We're like standing inside the telescope 1211 00:57:00,090 --> 00:57:01,919 and underneath the telescopes, 1212 00:57:01,919 --> 00:57:03,869 a hundred tons above your head. 1213 00:57:03,869 --> 00:57:05,760 Held up by this and this, which is cool. 1214 00:57:07,200 --> 00:57:08,550 It's sort of as you can see the 1215 00:57:08,550 --> 00:57:10,410 the highest peak around here. 1216 00:57:10,410 --> 00:57:13,139 Just over 8,000 feet. And come up here for sunset. 1217 00:57:13,139 --> 00:57:14,789 Oh my god, you know, sun setting right there. 1218 00:57:14,789 --> 00:57:16,950 It's just, it's perfect. 1219 00:57:16,950 --> 00:57:20,639 For dart, we're gonna be collecting images of the night sky 1220 00:57:20,639 --> 00:57:22,410 and typically an observer would be here in front of one 1221 00:57:22,410 --> 00:57:23,970 of these consoles controlling the instrument 1222 00:57:23,970 --> 00:57:25,229 and taking images like these 1223 00:57:25,229 --> 00:57:26,999 as they're coming in off the telescope. 1224 00:57:26,999 --> 00:57:29,519 DART is really a sort of before and after experiment. 1225 00:57:29,519 --> 00:57:31,380 We need to understand the system 1226 00:57:31,380 --> 00:57:33,479 before the spacecraft intentionally impacts, 1227 00:57:33,479 --> 00:57:35,639 and then we have to understand what the outcome of 1228 00:57:35,639 --> 00:57:38,910 that impact event is as we watch from the earth. 1229 00:57:38,910 --> 00:57:41,099 Dior FOS will pass in front of did mouses 1230 00:57:41,099 --> 00:57:42,630 and behind did mouses. 1231 00:57:42,630 --> 00:57:45,030 What we will be doing with those images is measuring the 1232 00:57:45,030 --> 00:57:47,340 brightness of Diddy mouses in those images 1233 00:57:47,340 --> 00:57:49,079 and looking at how that brightness changes. 1234 00:57:49,079 --> 00:57:52,680 And those dips and brightness allow us to measure when 1235 00:57:52,680 --> 00:57:53,729 these eclipse happen 1236 00:57:53,729 --> 00:57:56,280 and measure the orbit period of dim morphos. 1237 00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:58,829 And so you have essentially a fixed star field here. 1238 00:57:58,829 --> 00:58:01,320 All the white dots or stars of different brightness. 1239 00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:02,939 And moving through this field is Didi Moss 1240 00:58:02,939 --> 00:58:05,369 and DIM morphos, which again, we can't distinguish them 1241 00:58:05,369 --> 00:58:06,930 as discrete points of light, 1242 00:58:06,930 --> 00:58:09,990 but we have that small object moving 1243 00:58:09,990 --> 00:58:11,610 through the field of view. 1244 00:58:11,610 --> 00:58:14,669 So after impact, we will then be able to go back 1245 00:58:14,669 --> 00:58:17,039 and start observing intensely looking 1246 00:58:17,039 --> 00:58:19,709 for those mutual events, those eclipse events 1247 00:58:19,709 --> 00:58:22,979 of dim fos passing in front of and behind DIDI Mosts. 1248 00:58:22,979 --> 00:58:24,689 And on each one of these frames, 1249 00:58:24,689 --> 00:58:26,939 we're measuring the brightness to assess whether 1250 00:58:26,939 --> 00:58:28,919 or not it's undergoing one of these events 1251 00:58:28,919 --> 00:58:32,490 where Dior FOS is passing in front of or behind. 1252 00:58:32,490 --> 00:58:34,050 This is such a cool experiment. 1253 00:58:34,050 --> 00:58:36,780 It's such a singular experiment using the ground-based 1254 00:58:36,780 --> 00:58:37,979 telescopes like this one 1255 00:58:37,979 --> 00:58:41,010 and others around the world to to watch the systems 1256 00:58:41,010 --> 00:58:43,439 and see how it's affected by this impact event. 1257 00:58:43,439 --> 00:58:46,889 Because that's really what's gonna give us the answer to 1258 00:58:46,889 --> 00:58:49,619 what did DART do at the time of impact. 1259 00:58:49,619 --> 00:58:51,360 And that will be exciting to see how 1260 00:58:51,360 --> 00:58:53,669 that evolves over the days and weeks following that impact. 1261 00:59:01,590 --> 00:59:02,999 - Good afternoon everybody. 1262 00:59:04,169 --> 00:59:06,780 Two weeks ago we conducted humanities, 1263 00:59:06,780 --> 00:59:10,139 first planetary defense test. 1264 00:59:10,139 --> 00:59:13,619 - The team is measured that the orbital period 1265 00:59:13,619 --> 00:59:16,019 of dimorphic has changed. 1266 00:59:16,019 --> 00:59:20,760 - Astronomers have been using telescopes on earth to measure 1267 00:59:20,760 --> 00:59:24,030 how much that time has changed. 1268 00:59:24,030 --> 00:59:27,430 - These telescopes have been observing this system nightly. 1269 00:59:27,430 --> 00:59:29,410 And that's what you see going across here on this 1270 00:59:29,410 --> 00:59:30,459 graph on the top. 1271 00:59:30,459 --> 00:59:32,619 Just this nightly telescopic data night 1272 00:59:32,619 --> 00:59:33,760 after night after night. 1273 00:59:33,760 --> 00:59:36,189 - And it resulted in moving an asteroid 1274 00:59:36,189 --> 00:59:38,410 and actually changing its orbit 1275 00:59:38,410 --> 00:59:40,539 by a few millimeters per second. 1276 00:59:40,539 --> 00:59:42,039 Now that doesn't sound like a lot, 1277 00:59:42,039 --> 00:59:45,249 but acting over a long period of time, it could be enough 1278 00:59:45,249 --> 00:59:47,110 to help move something out of the way 1279 00:59:47,110 --> 00:59:49,059 of the earth should we ever need to do so. 1280 00:59:49,059 --> 00:59:53,079 - It was expected to be a huge success if it only slowed the 1281 00:59:53,079 --> 00:59:54,880 orbit by about 10 minutes, 1282 00:59:56,289 --> 01:00:00,099 but it actually slowed it by 32 minutes. 1283 01:00:00,099 --> 01:00:01,631 - The whole world has been watching this. 1284 01:00:04,150 --> 01:00:07,180 Wow, I need, what an exciting 1285 01:00:07,180 --> 01:00:10,749 - Day for the DART team in case you're keeping score. 1286 01:00:10,749 --> 01:00:14,079 Humanity won asteroids zero. 1287 01:00:14,979 --> 01:00:18,249 - So dart, the dinosaurs are made completely extinct 1288 01:00:18,249 --> 01:00:20,860 by an asteroid impact so many years ago. 1289 01:00:20,860 --> 01:00:23,800 Here we are, we can actually do something about it. 1290 01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:25,599 I think this is just wonderful. 1291 01:00:28,869 --> 01:00:30,880 - There are times, you know, in a year 1292 01:00:30,880 --> 01:00:33,519 or in in a decade when you are in awe, humanity. 1293 01:00:33,519 --> 01:00:35,079 You know what I mean? Despite everything 1294 01:00:35,079 --> 01:00:37,539 that happens in the world on a day-to-day basis in a new 1295 01:00:37,539 --> 01:00:39,999 cycle, there are times when you know, human beings kind 1296 01:00:39,999 --> 01:00:41,829 of come together to do great things. 1297 01:00:41,829 --> 01:00:45,070 And I think for me personally, dart was one of those moments 1298 01:00:45,070 --> 01:00:47,439 where you are just in absolute awe of humanity. 1299 01:00:47,439 --> 01:00:49,660 You know, here we are taking a spacecraft 1300 01:00:49,660 --> 01:00:52,570 and flying it, you know, hundreds of millions of, you know, 1301 01:00:52,570 --> 01:00:56,619 kilometers away and hitting an object with that Christian 1302 01:00:56,619 --> 01:00:58,990 and it all happens in, in, in a blink of an eye. 1303 01:00:58,990 --> 01:01:02,164 You know what I mean? It was not a long mission, you know, 1304 01:01:02,164 --> 01:01:04,360 and, and, and I think I, I'm very, very proud 1305 01:01:04,360 --> 01:01:06,160 of my colleagues who managed to pull that off. 1306 01:01:06,160 --> 01:01:09,760 - It demonstrates how far we've come as a species 1307 01:01:09,760 --> 01:01:11,079 in the last few centuries, 1308 01:01:11,079 --> 01:01:14,380 even from the first rockets launched into outer space, 1309 01:01:14,380 --> 01:01:18,249 the first asteroids being discovered to the ability 1310 01:01:18,249 --> 01:01:21,639 to realize what threat asteroids pose to the planet. 1311 01:01:21,639 --> 01:01:26,050 And now the capability demonstrated to send a spacecraft 1312 01:01:26,050 --> 01:01:30,070 to an asteroid that's in orbit around the sun and 1313 01:01:30,070 --> 01:01:32,979 and show that we have the capability if we have enough lead 1314 01:01:32,979 --> 01:01:35,320 time to alter its orbit. 1315 01:01:35,320 --> 01:01:38,919 That to me was just a fascinating moment in human history. 1316 01:01:38,919 --> 01:01:43,269 - Oh yeah, did watch it. I was like, it was super cold. 1317 01:01:44,169 --> 01:01:46,030 I did watch the the Dark Mission. 1318 01:01:46,030 --> 01:01:49,329 - Yes, I have watched the dart impact. It was pretty amazing 1319 01:01:49,329 --> 01:01:51,610 - Last video that they were showing live 1320 01:01:51,610 --> 01:01:54,760 and then you saw everything up until to the last moment. 1321 01:01:54,760 --> 01:01:56,919 I thought that there was such a big achievement 1322 01:01:56,919 --> 01:02:00,220 as something like people work on it for so long 1323 01:02:00,220 --> 01:02:03,910 and it proved that we can do it. 1324 01:02:03,910 --> 01:02:05,499 - The dart impact day was one 1325 01:02:05,499 --> 01:02:09,039 of the most exciting days in my career. 1326 01:02:09,039 --> 01:02:11,530 We watched the impact here at JPL. 1327 01:02:11,530 --> 01:02:14,979 The impact was bigger than I had expected, 1328 01:02:14,979 --> 01:02:16,329 but I was also excited 1329 01:02:16,329 --> 01:02:19,180 because we had an observing run 1330 01:02:20,169 --> 01:02:24,010 for observing Didymo just about 11 hours after impact 1331 01:02:24,010 --> 01:02:27,709 and it would be the first opportunity to see how much 1332 01:02:27,709 --> 01:02:30,320 of an effect the impact had did. 1333 01:02:30,320 --> 01:02:34,459 Amos was all I was thinking about the whole day. 1334 01:02:34,459 --> 01:02:38,329 I couldn't sleep. The observing run started at about 3:00 AM 1335 01:02:38,329 --> 01:02:41,269 that night and we had our first echo 1336 01:02:41,269 --> 01:02:43,729 of did Amos after impact. 1337 01:02:43,729 --> 01:02:47,209 We weren't expecting to measure the deflection that night, 1338 01:02:47,209 --> 01:02:50,329 but the echo was off from 1339 01:02:50,329 --> 01:02:53,720 where it should have been if there was no dark impact 1340 01:02:53,720 --> 01:02:55,490 and I couldn't believe my eyes. 1341 01:02:55,490 --> 01:02:58,579 I was like, either there's some 1342 01:02:58,579 --> 01:03:00,709 problems in the measurement 1343 01:03:00,709 --> 01:03:05,059 or this is a real detection, just 12 hours after impact. 1344 01:03:05,900 --> 01:03:08,869 So this was the first Goldstone radar detection 1345 01:03:08,869 --> 01:03:10,400 of the effect 1346 01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:13,099 of the dart impact on the orbit of Dim Morpheus. 1347 01:03:13,099 --> 01:03:16,999 The yellow circle, it circles the location 1348 01:03:16,999 --> 01:03:21,320 where the echo from amorphis should have been had there been 1349 01:03:21,320 --> 01:03:23,419 no dart impact. 1350 01:03:23,419 --> 01:03:28,130 But then the red is circles, the echo of dim morphos, 1351 01:03:28,130 --> 01:03:30,680 which you can see is this white.here 1352 01:03:30,680 --> 01:03:32,599 and you can see it's quite far away from 1353 01:03:32,599 --> 01:03:35,360 where it should have been without the impact. 1354 01:03:35,360 --> 01:03:37,579 - And it just gave it a small nudge. 1355 01:03:37,579 --> 01:03:39,439 But if you wanted to do this in the future, 1356 01:03:39,439 --> 01:03:41,300 potentially it could potentially work, 1357 01:03:41,300 --> 01:03:43,430 but you'd want to do it years in advance. 1358 01:03:43,430 --> 01:03:46,789 Warning time is really key here in order to enable this sort 1359 01:03:46,789 --> 01:03:49,550 of asteroid deflection to potentially be used in the future 1360 01:03:49,550 --> 01:03:53,030 and is part of a much larger planetary defense strategy. 1361 01:03:53,030 --> 01:03:55,130 - The dart mission was the first kinetic 1362 01:03:55,130 --> 01:03:56,840 impact or demonstration. 1363 01:03:56,840 --> 01:04:00,050 - It was a successful demonstration of of that technique. 1364 01:04:00,889 --> 01:04:04,010 There are also other possible techniques 1365 01:04:04,010 --> 01:04:06,169 - If you do find one that is coming. 1366 01:04:06,169 --> 01:04:08,300 Definitely there are several options. 1367 01:04:08,300 --> 01:04:10,070 - There are different type of mitigation 1368 01:04:10,070 --> 01:04:12,680 and they actually depend on when you discover 1369 01:04:12,680 --> 01:04:13,999 that the object is gonna impact. 1370 01:04:13,999 --> 01:04:16,189 - Well, one of the most important things we can do to ensure 1371 01:04:16,189 --> 01:04:19,970 that mitigation actually works is we need to provide time. 1372 01:04:19,970 --> 01:04:21,050 - Time is your best friend. 1373 01:04:21,050 --> 01:04:24,800 - I have time to build a spacecraft, go to space, 1374 01:04:24,800 --> 01:04:27,289 analyze the object, try to understand what type 1375 01:04:27,289 --> 01:04:29,570 of physical properties this object has. 1376 01:04:29,570 --> 01:04:32,329 - Then what we call the reconnaissance mission to fly 1377 01:04:32,329 --> 01:04:34,760 by a rendezvous so that we have a better understanding of 1378 01:04:34,760 --> 01:04:38,180 what the asteroid is, such as the size, the mass 1379 01:04:38,180 --> 01:04:39,950 - Chemical composition for example. 1380 01:04:39,950 --> 01:04:43,849 It is a solid rock as it has boulders, something like that. 1381 01:04:43,849 --> 01:04:47,090 And then you wanna know its target in a very accurate way 1382 01:04:47,090 --> 01:04:50,150 because you wanna track it down and like go straight on it. 1383 01:04:50,150 --> 01:04:53,150 - The next step is to figure out a, the mission 1384 01:04:53,150 --> 01:04:55,880 that could potentially deflect the asteroid. 1385 01:04:55,880 --> 01:04:59,240 - There are other techniques though that still remain 1386 01:04:59,240 --> 01:05:03,530 to be tested for asteroid deflection. 1387 01:05:03,530 --> 01:05:05,720 - A gravity tractor for instance, 1388 01:05:05,720 --> 01:05:09,150 where you just have a spacecraft of, of, 1389 01:05:09,150 --> 01:05:12,470 of some significant mass a station keep 1390 01:05:12,470 --> 01:05:14,660 with the asteroid in the right position and, 1391 01:05:14,660 --> 01:05:16,070 and the mutual attraction 1392 01:05:16,070 --> 01:05:19,340 between the two objects will allow the spacecraft 1393 01:05:19,340 --> 01:05:23,729 to slowly tug the asteroid off of the impacting trajectory. 1394 01:05:23,729 --> 01:05:27,419 Another technique might be an ion beam deflector 1395 01:05:27,419 --> 01:05:29,340 where you've got a spacecraft 1396 01:05:29,340 --> 01:05:33,300 that turns its ion engines onto the surface 1397 01:05:33,300 --> 01:05:36,539 of the asteroid, continuously bombarding the surface 1398 01:05:36,539 --> 01:05:40,559 of the asteroid, does create a pressure on its surface and 1399 01:05:40,559 --> 01:05:43,410 therefore a force that 1400 01:05:44,490 --> 01:05:46,619 changes the velocity of the asteroid. 1401 01:05:48,150 --> 01:05:51,119 Of course, all the Hollywood movies like 1402 01:05:51,119 --> 01:05:52,950 to use nuclear explosives. 1403 01:05:52,950 --> 01:05:55,769 It's very dramatic and exciting, 1404 01:05:55,769 --> 01:05:57,930 but we wouldn't blow the asteroid up 1405 01:05:57,930 --> 01:05:59,070 like they do in the movies. 1406 01:05:59,070 --> 01:06:02,430 You detonate the device, the 1407 01:06:03,749 --> 01:06:08,749 bombards, the surface of the asteroid with heavy radiation 1408 01:06:08,760 --> 01:06:13,349 that causes the surface material to vaporize 1409 01:06:13,349 --> 01:06:14,729 and jet off and 1410 01:06:14,729 --> 01:06:19,385 and creates instantaneous rocket engine so to speak, 1411 01:06:19,385 --> 01:06:21,300 and shoves the asteroid. 1412 01:06:21,300 --> 01:06:24,900 - Really the goal that NASA is to find the asteroids years 1413 01:06:24,900 --> 01:06:26,340 or decades in advance 1414 01:06:26,340 --> 01:06:29,010 that could pose an impact threat to earth. 1415 01:06:29,010 --> 01:06:30,689 And then you have the gift of time 1416 01:06:30,689 --> 01:06:35,340 to address possibly not having that impact happen at all. 1417 01:06:37,410 --> 01:06:39,450 NASA is just one piece in the puzzle. 1418 01:06:39,450 --> 01:06:41,099 NASA has its role 1419 01:06:41,099 --> 01:06:44,519 as the information gatherer from space 1420 01:06:44,519 --> 01:06:47,220 and conveying that information to other agencies. 1421 01:06:47,220 --> 01:06:50,669 - Every piece of the puzzle mu must rise up to the occasion 1422 01:06:50,669 --> 01:06:52,410 and perform seamlessly. 1423 01:06:52,410 --> 01:06:54,055 To do that, we have to practice. 1424 01:06:54,055 --> 01:06:58,889 - NASA also participates in interagency exercises 1425 01:06:58,889 --> 01:07:03,180 with many others across the US government to step 1426 01:07:03,180 --> 01:07:06,450 through a situation where an asteroid is discovered 1427 01:07:06,450 --> 01:07:08,400 so many years ahead of time. 1428 01:07:08,400 --> 01:07:11,280 Here is the type of information that is known about it. 1429 01:07:11,280 --> 01:07:13,979 Here are the possibilities of what could happen next. 1430 01:07:23,430 --> 01:07:25,829 - Good morning everybody. Thank you for coming. 1431 01:07:25,829 --> 01:07:28,834 It's been a pleasure. This is our fifth exercise. 1432 01:07:28,834 --> 01:07:31,530 - Welcome to the fifth Interagency Planetary Defense 1433 01:07:31,530 --> 01:07:33,030 table tap exercise. 1434 01:07:33,030 --> 01:07:35,099 - This exercise is incredibly important 1435 01:07:35,099 --> 01:07:38,189 to bring together the world experts and decision makers. 1436 01:07:38,189 --> 01:07:40,800 Op Planetary Defense, national Space Council, 1437 01:07:40,800 --> 01:07:42,150 - Shema - NASA headquarters, 1438 01:07:42,150 --> 01:07:43,410 - US Space Command, 1439 01:07:43,410 --> 01:07:46,260 - The Department of State to better prepare us for 1440 01:07:46,260 --> 01:07:49,709 what is an inevitable future asteroid impact. 1441 01:07:49,709 --> 01:07:51,119 We know it will happen. 1442 01:07:51,119 --> 01:07:53,189 We, we just don't know when it will happen. 1443 01:07:53,189 --> 01:07:56,130 - You know, really this exercise is focuses on is 1444 01:07:56,130 --> 01:08:00,419 how we plan and coordinate our activities in response 1445 01:08:00,419 --> 01:08:02,760 to a potential impact for it all 1446 01:08:02,760 --> 01:08:07,019 to come together into a plan on, on how we save the world. 1447 01:08:07,979 --> 01:08:09,900 - And with that, I invite you all 1448 01:08:09,900 --> 01:08:12,360 to open the blue envelope in your folder. 1449 01:08:13,380 --> 01:08:16,200 And what you have in front of you is a notification from the 1450 01:08:16,200 --> 01:08:18,809 International Asteroid Warning Network about this 1451 01:08:18,809 --> 01:08:22,689 hypothetical scenario of a asteroid impact 1452 01:08:22,689 --> 01:08:26,139 for the near Earth asteroid 2023 TTX. 1453 01:08:26,139 --> 01:08:29,019 - At this point in the scenario, the impact probability 1454 01:08:29,019 --> 01:08:32,500 of the asteroid is 72% as calculated 1455 01:08:32,500 --> 01:08:37,500 by NASA JPLC Neos, and by the ISA NIO Coordination Center. 1456 01:08:37,870 --> 01:08:42,870 The impact date would be the 12th of July, 2038. 1457 01:08:42,969 --> 01:08:45,939 The potential impact locations would span a corridor from 1458 01:08:45,939 --> 01:08:49,450 the South Pacific across North America, the Atlantic, 1459 01:08:49,450 --> 01:08:52,599 the Iberian Peninsula, the Mediterranean coast of Africa, 1460 01:08:52,599 --> 01:08:54,490 Egypt to the coast of Saudi Arabia. 1461 01:08:55,990 --> 01:08:58,960 Now the size of the object based on observations from the 1462 01:08:58,960 --> 01:09:01,360 ground, it's highly uncertain based on the brightness 1463 01:09:01,360 --> 01:09:03,460 and the unknown surface reflectivity, 1464 01:09:03,460 --> 01:09:05,019 the coloring of the asteroid. 1465 01:09:05,019 --> 01:09:08,710 And so it's most likely estimated to be in the range 1466 01:09:08,710 --> 01:09:11,769 of a hundred to 320 meters based on, on 1467 01:09:11,769 --> 01:09:13,120 what is known about asteroids, 1468 01:09:13,120 --> 01:09:16,809 but potentially at the extreme range of 60 1469 01:09:16,809 --> 01:09:19,269 to 800 meters in diameter. 1470 01:09:19,269 --> 01:09:21,610 - Alright, so the next critical factor to consider is 1471 01:09:21,610 --> 01:09:23,979 of course, how many people could be affected 1472 01:09:23,979 --> 01:09:26,200 by these different damage sizes along the 1473 01:09:26,200 --> 01:09:27,460 different impact locations. 1474 01:09:27,460 --> 01:09:31,000 - It's certainly regional to country scale based on that, 1475 01:09:31,000 --> 01:09:32,229 that size range 1476 01:09:32,229 --> 01:09:34,570 - Four asteroids in this general size range, 1477 01:09:34,570 --> 01:09:37,809 the primary hazard is going to be local blast 1478 01:09:37,809 --> 01:09:39,309 and thermal ground damage. 1479 01:09:39,309 --> 01:09:43,210 And the larger sizes could also cause tsunami. 1480 01:09:43,210 --> 01:09:45,460 So overall the average population risk is 1481 01:09:45,460 --> 01:09:47,530 around 270,000 people 1482 01:09:47,530 --> 01:09:50,229 among all the potential earth impacting cases. 1483 01:09:50,229 --> 01:09:52,809 And then of course there's still that 28% chance 1484 01:09:52,809 --> 01:09:56,920 that the asteroid could swing by earth and miss us entirely. 1485 01:09:56,920 --> 01:10:00,400 - We have filled out the uncertainty in 2038 with a bunch 1486 01:10:00,400 --> 01:10:02,349 of white dots and, 1487 01:10:02,349 --> 01:10:03,670 and we really don't know which 1488 01:10:03,670 --> 01:10:06,129 of those white dots is the real asteroid. 1489 01:10:06,129 --> 01:10:09,070 And so we just, we simulate virtual asteroids 1490 01:10:09,070 --> 01:10:11,019 and we just run them all towards the earth. 1491 01:10:11,019 --> 01:10:12,099 The current situation is 1492 01:10:12,099 --> 01:10:13,210 that we don't know where it will hit. 1493 01:10:14,200 --> 01:10:16,660 We just know that it will hit along this line. 1494 01:10:16,660 --> 01:10:18,820 - For this exercise over the next two days, 1495 01:10:18,820 --> 01:10:21,519 we're gonna stay frozen in time right here, right now, 1496 01:10:21,519 --> 01:10:24,129 14 years ahead of the asteroid impact 1497 01:10:24,129 --> 01:10:25,599 and figure out what do we do 1498 01:10:25,599 --> 01:10:27,429 with the information that we have now. 1499 01:10:27,429 --> 01:10:29,139 - Disaster preparedness planning, 1500 01:10:29,139 --> 01:10:31,900 international space response information sharing 1501 01:10:31,900 --> 01:10:33,939 in public messaging. So the 1502 01:10:33,939 --> 01:10:37,059 - Challenge now is to figure out how do we respond 1503 01:10:37,059 --> 01:10:41,379 and prepare for an uncertain event like this where 1504 01:10:41,379 --> 01:10:42,759 we're not sure what could happen, 1505 01:10:42,759 --> 01:10:44,860 but the potential consequences could be cut 1506 01:10:44,860 --> 01:10:46,629 quite catastrophic. 1507 01:10:46,629 --> 01:10:48,460 - This gets at sort of what we were hinting at there, 1508 01:10:48,460 --> 01:10:50,710 starting to talk about not just what the threat is, 1509 01:10:50,710 --> 01:10:52,509 but what we could potentially do about it. 1510 01:10:52,509 --> 01:10:56,349 - The good news is this asteroid impact may be preventable. 1511 01:10:56,349 --> 01:10:58,540 We have at least three technologies 1512 01:10:58,540 --> 01:11:00,400 that we can consider for this. 1513 01:11:00,400 --> 01:11:02,259 And they have different physical effects. 1514 01:11:02,259 --> 01:11:04,450 So the first, it's kinetic impact, 1515 01:11:04,450 --> 01:11:06,309 which is like the dart mission, 1516 01:11:06,309 --> 01:11:08,950 whereas spacecraft impacts the asteroid 1517 01:11:08,950 --> 01:11:10,509 to change its speed very slightly. 1518 01:11:11,379 --> 01:11:12,729 The second is an ion beam 1519 01:11:12,729 --> 01:11:17,229 where you use a controlled electric thruster to slowly push 1520 01:11:17,229 --> 01:11:20,509 or pull on the asteroid and change its speed. 1521 01:11:20,509 --> 01:11:22,879 And then finally it's a nuclear explosive device 1522 01:11:22,879 --> 01:11:24,500 where you literally boil off part 1523 01:11:24,500 --> 01:11:26,750 of the asteroid in order to change its speed. 1524 01:11:26,750 --> 01:11:29,150 And we also need to know the physical properties 1525 01:11:29,150 --> 01:11:32,420 of the asteroid because all of these methods, whether 1526 01:11:32,420 --> 01:11:34,219 or not they work and the specifics of 1527 01:11:34,219 --> 01:11:36,290 how you would design them, are tailored 1528 01:11:36,290 --> 01:11:38,210 to the specific asteroid properties 1529 01:11:42,110 --> 01:11:45,259 - Through forums like this one today and tomorrow 1530 01:11:45,259 --> 01:11:47,780 and bringing together all of you the world experts, 1531 01:11:47,780 --> 01:11:49,099 we can tackle the detection 1532 01:11:49,099 --> 01:11:51,769 and characterization of asteroids, ways 1533 01:11:51,769 --> 01:11:55,464 to improve coordination among allied nations. 1534 01:11:55,464 --> 01:11:58,490 - That's why we wanna exercise all of these capabilities now 1535 01:11:58,490 --> 01:11:59,689 and not wait until then. 1536 01:11:59,689 --> 01:12:03,650 - We took this opportunity to exercise the whole system 1537 01:12:03,650 --> 01:12:07,370 and campaign that would be done if a potential impactor 1538 01:12:07,370 --> 01:12:08,689 was found. 1539 01:12:25,729 --> 01:12:28,280 - Planetary defense is a team sport Asteroid impacts 1540 01:12:28,280 --> 01:12:29,780 our shared risk. 1541 01:12:29,780 --> 01:12:32,000 And so we really need to work as a team. 1542 01:12:32,000 --> 01:12:34,639 - It's really important that we have a global effort to try 1543 01:12:34,639 --> 01:12:35,929 to understand the problem. 1544 01:12:35,929 --> 01:12:39,559 - No one nation can independently save the world in case 1545 01:12:39,559 --> 01:12:40,700 of an impending impact. 1546 01:12:40,700 --> 01:12:42,500 - It's a fantastic community. 1547 01:12:42,500 --> 01:12:46,460 - I'm part of a global team of planetary defenders. 1548 01:12:46,460 --> 01:12:49,309 Very proud to be part of that planetary defense family. 1549 01:12:49,309 --> 01:12:51,469 - The not only protects Earth today, 1550 01:12:51,469 --> 01:12:53,464 but provides protection for the.