Amy Mainzer: Asteroid Hunter

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

The Planetary Society

Technology, Science

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2018

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After taking over 10 million images of more than 30,000 solar system objects, the NEOWISE mission is finally in its last months. Principal Investigator Amy Mainzer returns with an update on this phenomenal success and a look ahead toward a much more powerful asteroid and comet hunter called NEOCam. It’s not just about defending our planet. We are learning the origin story of Earth and other worlds. Bruce Betts also shares a story or two, along with a new space trivia contest, in this week’s What’s Up segment. Learn more about this week’s topic and see images here: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0509-amy-mainzer-neowise.htmlLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Amy Meinzer is back this week on planetary radio.
0:04.0	Welcome, I'm at Kaplan of the Planetary Society,
0:12.0	with more of a human adventure across our solar system and beyond.
0:16.2	She's one of our perennial favorites, the principal investigator for both the Neo-Wise
0:21.1	and Neo-KAMam missions returns with an extended update on both of these and more
0:27.8	as the search for Neos, the asteroids and comets that may threaten our world continues.
0:34.8	A simpler show this week as I once again host the live webcast from the Humans to
0:39.1	Mars Summit in Washington, D.C.
0:42.2	But there's always time to visit with the Planetary Society's chief scientist, Bruce Betts.
0:47.0	Bruce is back with an easier space trivia contest this time since he stumped so many of you two weeks ago.
0:54.0	Neo-Wise is the near-Earth object wide-field infrared survey explorer,
1:01.0	but in this case, Neo stands for more than that. The spacecraft started life as simply
1:06.8	wise and did a brilliant job of scanning the infrared skies for stars, galaxies, and more than a few asteroids. It completed
1:15.6	that work and was reborn as a hunter and tracker of the rocks and comets that pepper
1:21.0	our solar system with special attention to those that cross Earth's orbit.
1:26.2	Why?
1:27.2	Because, as Bill Nye says, the dinosaurs all died because they didn't have a space program. With luck, that work will someday be
1:35.8	amplified by Neokam, an infrared space telescope that is specifically designed to find, track, and characterize near-Earth objects.
1:45.7	As P.I. Amy Mindser leads Neo-Cam's development even as she continues her direction of the
1:51.3	Neo-Wise mission, she joined me from her direction of the Neo-Wise mission.
1:53.1	She joined me from her office at the Jet Propulsion Lab
1:55.9	a few days ago.
	...

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