Chabot Asteroid Day - Investigating Space: Asteroid Impact

Free With General Admission

Learn all about asteroids by engaging in hands-on activities that will teach you how to identify Earth rocks from space rocks using magnets and microscopes. Hear from special guest speaker SETI Institute Scientist Ariel Graykowski, a researcher in planetary science, discuss NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first full-scale mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards.  Scott Manly will explore how crashing into asteroids and changing their orbit could work, and participate in a conversation with the Coordination Lead of NASA’s DART program, Nancy Chabot.

Asteroids are some of the oldest bodies in our solar system. From their orbits to the materials that make up the asteroids, understanding these small bodies helps us understand the early evolution of our solar system. In this talk, we will explore this connection and discuss how scientists have learned all this information about asteroids. While asteroids give us insightful peeks into the past, studying them also helps us protect our planet from future asteroid impacts.

LEARN MORE