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NASA will host a virtual media briefing at 3:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 20, to discuss a new summary of a recent tabletop exercise to simulate national and international responses to a hypothetical asteroid impact threat.<\/p>\n
The fifth biennial Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise was held April 2 and 3, 2024, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, in partnership with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State Office of Space Affairs, convened the tabletop exercise to inform and assess our ability as a nation to respond effectively to the threat of a potentially hazardous asteroid or comet. This exercise supports NASA\u2019s planetary defense strategy to protect our planet and continues the agency\u2019s mission to innovate for the benefit of humanity.<\/p>\n
Video of the briefing will stream live on NASA TV and NASA\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
The following participants will review the history and purpose of the exercise, the scenario encountered during this year\u2019s simulation, and its findings and recommendations:<\/p>\n
To register for the briefing, media must RSVP no later than two hours before the event to Alise Fisher at alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov. NASA\u2019s\u00a0media accreditation policy\u00a0is available online.<\/p>\n
While there are no known significant asteroid impact threats for the foreseeable future, hypothetical exercises like this one, which are conducted about every two years, provide valuable insights on how the United States could respond effectively if a potential asteroid impact threat is identified.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s exercise was the first to include participation by NASA\u2019s international collaborators in planetary defense and the first to have the benefit of actual data from NASA\u2019s successful DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, the world\u2019s first in-space technology demonstration for defending Earth against potential asteroid impacts.<\/p>\n
NASA established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in 2016 to manage the agency\u2019s ongoing efforts in planetary defense.<\/p>\n
To learn more about planetary defense at NASA, visit:\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Charles Blue \/ Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington\u00a0
202-802-5345 \/ 202-358-1600
charles.e.blue@nasa.gov \/ karen.fox@nasa.gov<\/p>\n<\/div>\n