{"id":784986,"date":"2024-06-28T23:52:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T04:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=784986"},"modified":"2024-06-28T23:52:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T04:52:57","slug":"schweickart-prize-takes-the-spotlight-for-asteroid-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=784986","title":{"rendered":"Schweickart Prize Takes the Spotlight for Asteroid Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Every year on June 30, Asteroid Day marks the anniversary of a meteor airburst in 1908 that leveled hundreds of square miles of Siberian forest land. But a more recent meteor blast \u2014 and a new plan for getting advance warning of the next one \u2014 is receiving some added attention for this year\u2019s Asteroid Day.<\/p>\n<p>The first-ever Schweickart Prize, named in honor of Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, is going to a researcher who has proposed a system for spotting potentially threatening asteroids coming at us from a difficult-to-monitor zone between Earth and the sun. It was just such an asteroid that blew up over the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, spraying debris that injured about 1,500 people and caused an estimated $33 million in property damage.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal from astronomy Ph.D. student Joseph DeMartini calls for setting up a consortium of ground-based observatories, anchored by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, to focus on the twilight sky just after sunset and just before sunrise. Those are the times of day when astronomers have the best chance of finding sunward near-Earth objects (NEOs) that spend much of their time within Earth\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very interesting proposal that we hope gets picked up,\u201d Rusty Schweickart said.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-167519\"\/><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Russian Meteor Explosion - All You Need About Chelyabinsk&#039;s Surprise Space Rock | Video\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5SPkgu107zY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>DeMartini\u2019s concept for what he calls the <strong>Su<\/strong>nward <strong>N<\/strong>EO <strong>S<\/strong>urveillance and <strong>E<\/strong>arly <strong>T<\/strong>wilight detection collaboration \u2014 or SUNSET for short \u2014 was judged the top entry in the competition for the Schweickart Prize. The award, which is a program of the California-based B612 Foundation, recognizes graduate students who come up with innovative ideas for planetary defense. As the prize winner, DeMartini will receive a $10,000 cash prize and a trophy topped by an authenticated meteorite during a ceremony on June 29 at the Chabot Space &amp; Science Center in Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing that actually got me to put my idea forward was the meteorite fragment,\u201d said DeMartini, who\u2019s earning his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. \u201cI saw that and I was like, \u2018Oh my gosh, I really want that.\u2019 But maybe that\u2019s just me being an asteroid nerd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>DeMartini said the idea behind SUNSET came out of discussions he had with a colleague about the asteroid that sparked the Chelyabinsk blast. \u201cThe reason we didn\u2019t have any warning was because it came from the direction of the sun, and we can\u2019t look in the direction of the sun,\u201d he said. \u201cThat got me thinking, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s a region we should really monitor.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It turns out that the Rubin Observatory is looking into conducting just such a monitoring effort after it gets up and running next year. DeMartini suggests that the SUNSET network could augment the sightings made at the Rubin Observatory, and confirm the precise orbits traced by sunward NEOs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf these other telescopes know where to point in advance, then they can follow up on anything that Rubin discovers in a night, and then we can get these confirmations more easily,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The current focus of DeMartini\u2019s research actually has to do with a different topic: numerical simulations of asteroid surfaces and interiors, and how close encounters with Earth might change those values. But when his faculty adviser told him about the Schweickart Prize, DeMartini decided to enter the competition.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left: Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart; the Schweickart Prize, topped by a meteorite; and the first winner of the prize, University of Maryland astronomer Joseph DeMartini. (Credits: RustySchweickart.com; Christopher Che via SchweickartPrize.org; University of Maryland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It should come as no surprise that Rusty Schweickart himself was one of the judges. In his post-NASA career, he has focused on the challenges of asteroid threat detection and mitigation. He\u2019s the founder and past president of the Association of Space Explorers, which took up the NEO threat as one of its causes. He\u2019s also a co-founder of the B612 Foundation, which raises awareness about planetary defense, and a co-founder of Asteroid Day as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about here in planetary defense is having the capability to ever so slightly, but critically, reshape the solar system to enhance the future of life on Earth,\u201d Schweickart said. \u201cTo prevent this existential threat \u2014 that is what I\u2019ve dedicated the last 20 years of my life to bringing about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thanks in part to a congressional mandate, more than 90% of the biggest near-Earth asteroids, exceeding a kilometer (0.6 mile) in diameter, are thought to have been identified and are being tracked. That\u2019s the kind of asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs roughly 66 million years ago. \u201cBut it\u2019s the ones that are the city-killers \u2014 the 40- to 50-meter-diameter guys \u2014 that you can\u2019t see until they\u2019re pretty close to the Earth,\u201d Schweickart said. \u201cThat means looking interior [to Earth\u2019s orbit] is going to be more productive than looking exterior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>DeMartini\u2019s proposal was selected as the winner because it addresses one of the biggest gaps in asteroid monitoring, and because it takes advantage of advances in observational firepower.<\/p>\n<p>The Rubin Observatory\u2019s Survey Cadence Optimization Committee, or SCOC, says doing the kind of twilight sky survey that DeMartini discusses in his SUNSET proposal would be \u201cscientifically compelling.\u201d It recommends starting such a survey soon after the telescope begins science operations next year. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe currently are simulating the effect of adding low-solar-elongation observations during the start and end of twilight, spending about 15 to 20 minutes of the start and end of about a quarter of the survey nights observing at high airmass toward the sun,\u201d Lynne Jones, an astronomer who\u2019s part of the Rubin team, said in an email. \u201cThis gives us the opportunity to detect asteroids interior to the Earth, even down to parts of the sky which are closer than 40 degrees from the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>This time-lapse simulation illustrates how the Rubin Observatory could focus on twilight zones at the start and end of a survey night. Credit: Lynne Jones \/ Aerotek \/ Rubin Observatory.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A simulated night at the Rubin Observatory\" width=\"1110\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/niO-NGoNwkU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>DeMartini said the Rubin Observatory\u2019s twilight survey campaign would be \u201cstep one\u201d in his vision for the SUNSET collaboration. \u201cThe next bit, I suppose, would be networking. Hopefully, this event that I\u2019ll be going to when I\u2019m receiving the prize will be a good opportunity for that. And that\u2019s something that B612 can really help with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it takes off, I don\u2019t know what it looks like in 10 years. But my hope is that we\u2019re safer because of it,\u201d DeMartini added.<\/p>\n<p>Randy Schweickart, who is one of Rusty\u2019s sons and the chair of the prize program\u2019s judging committee, said he and other family members are committed to funding the Schweickart Prize for at least five years. \u201cThe hope is that \u2014 similar to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which has expanded tremendously from its beginnings \u2014 there would be support from other sources as we move in time and are able to get more of the word out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Rusty Schweickart said that the prize is meant for more than astronomers. \u201cThe really toughest problems related to planetary defense are the governance issues \u2014 the non-technical, geopolitical and legal issues,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, in the future, what we want to do is move more in that direction, and get law students, economics students, public-safety people, emergency-response people to be involved in this. Because in the end, they\u2019re going to be very critical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schweickart, who\u2019ll turn 90 next year, hopes the prize will carry on his legacy when he\u2019s \u201cpushing up daisies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems to me that that we have, as human beings, a special responsibility to do whatever we can to see that this evolutionary experiment that we\u2019re having here on planet Earth continues,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not quite sure why that\u2019s the responsibility, but I think it is. And if so, I feel obligated to do what I could.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p><em>Scores of events have been scheduled around the world to mark Asteroid Day, including a two-day festival in Luxembourg.<\/em> <em>The award ceremony for the Schweickart Prize will take place at 3:30 p.m. PT June 29 at the Chabot Space &amp; Science Center in Oakland, Calif. The event will feature a presentation by Rusty Schweickart, plus comments from NASA astronauts Steve Smith and Nicole Stott, and from YouTube space commentator Scott Manley. Click to purchase tickets. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Founding Sponsors who have funded the Schweickart Prize program include Anousheh Ansari, Barringer Crater Company, B612 Foundation, Future Ventures, Geoffrey Notkin, Jurvetson Family Foundation, Meteor Crater, Randy Schweickart and Michelle Heng, and Rusty B. Schweickart and Joanne Keys.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-167519-667f919d03340\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=13.2#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=167519&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-167519-667f919d03340&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-167519-667f919d03340\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/167519\/schweickart-prize-asteroid-day\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every year on June 30, Asteroid Day marks the anniversary of a meteor airburst in 1908 that leveled hundreds of square miles of Siberian forest land. But a more recent&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":784987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-784986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=784986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/784987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=784986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=784986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=784986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}