Lunar and Planetary Lab's Evening Lecture Series (iTunesU lectures on asteroids and NEOs)

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Multiples iTunesU lectures on asteroids and NEO are available from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL), Department of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona, Evening Lecture Series. Also, there is an upcoming lecture on 21 April 2010 related to NEAs. Here is more information about LPL evening lecture schedule and links to the previous asteroid/NEO podcasts.

Chicken Little’s Reservoir: LPL’s Legacy and Current Advancements in Near-Earth Asteroid Population Detection and Mitigation Efforts
LPL50 Anniversary Alumnus Lecture: Faith Vilas
Wednesday, 21 April 2010

Dr. Faith Vilas, LPL alumna and Director of the Multiple Mirror Telescope Obervatory (MMT), is the scheduled speaker.

Abstract:
The transient population of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs represents the largest fraction of the Solar System objects that can impact the Earth. For the first time in its history, humankind has the capacity to consider how to prevent a catastrophic collision of a near-Earth object with the Earth, and the audacity to imagine that it can do so. In pursuit of this goal, LPL scientists have played a major role in shaping our understanding of the local- to global- catastrophic damage threat to humankind from the impact of Solar System objects on the Earth's surface. The first concerted effort to detect NEAs was pioneered at LPL; telescopic detection and characterization of NEAs, including the first detection of an imminent impactor, 2008 TC3, on its final approach to the Earth, continue at LPL to this day. The scars of earlier encounters of NEAs with the Earth are studied to understand their effects on the planet's history and evolution. Two robotic spacecraft have visited the NEAs 433 Eros and 25143 Itokawa. Large diameter telescopes now actively engage in observational studies of NEAs in order to expand our characterization of these objects. And, in a move to direct further detection and mitigation efforts in the United States (and encourage international efforts), the National Research Council has just released a study on defending planet Earth. I will review past, present, and possible future NEA studies, and LPL's involvement in saving humankind from mass destruction.

- LPL asteroid/NEO related podcasts

- "The Search for Hazardous Asteroids from Mt. Lemmon," Edward Beshore (Catalina Sky Survey, CSS, PI), 56:43, 02 March 2009

Lecture: downloadable podcast (iTunesU)

- "The Science and Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids," Dante Lauretta, 1:19:33, 18 November 2008

Lecture: downloadable podcast (iTunesU)

- "OSIRIS-REx: NASA Sample Return Mission from a Primitive Asteroid," Dante Lauretta (Deputy PI, OSIRIS-REx), 1:01:24, 30 January 2010

Lecture: downloadable podcast (iTunesU)

- "Scientific Results of NASA's Deep Impact Mission," H. Jay Melosh, 1:15:28, 28 Feb 2008

Lecture: downloadable podcast (iTunesU)

Link: Catalina Sky Survey, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona

Link: LPL Evening Lecture Series