3.0

Average Course Rating

This First-Year Seminar course will examine the science, engineering, and human challenges of defending the planet from an incoming asteroid. We will focus on a scenario developed within the most recent Planetary Defense Conference. Some near-earth objects (NEOs) have a high probability of making a close approach to Earth, and in some rare cases, hitting Earth. These NEO impacts can have devastating consequences for Earth and its inhabitants. One of the most notable NEO impacts was from a large asteroid that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Though large NEOs are very rare, impacts from small NEOs pose significant threats to the planet. What should we do when we detect an incoming asteroid? We will discuss the technological options for deflecting or destroying such objects, as well as the societal and policy issues that will arise when such a threat is discovered. Students in the course may come from any background, and will be expected to participate fully in all of the discussions. We will bring in occasional guest speakers from the Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA, government, and industry to focus on specific aspects; students may be expected to join the speakers for lunch.