{"id":5222,"date":"2013-01-27T13:47:46","date_gmt":"2013-01-27T18:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=5222"},"modified":"2013-01-27T13:47:46","modified_gmt":"2013-01-27T18:47:46","slug":"whizzing-asteroid-turns-rocket-scientists-heads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/whizzing-asteroid-turns-rocket-scientists-heads\/","title":{"rendered":"Asteroid Encounter at UCF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6316\" src=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2013\/01\/asteroid-528x396-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"asteroid-528x396\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2013\/01\/asteroid-528x396-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2013\/01\/asteroid-528x396-299x224.jpg 299w, https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2013\/01\/asteroid-528x396.jpg 528w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>An asteroid, the size of half a city block, will buzz Earth\u2019s surface on Feb. 15, squeezing by communication satellites orbiting the planet.<\/p>\n<p>The University of Central Florida will host a free 1 p.m. viewing party for the public to watch this event via feeds from telescopes in Spain, where it will be nighttime. UCF\u2019s\u00a0<strong>Humberto Campins,<\/strong>\u00a0an international expert on asteroids who first discovered water ice and organic molecules on asteroids, has gathered three leaders in asteroid research who will give short talks about the real and sensationalized threat these rocky bodies pose. The live feeds will include telescopes at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.oam.es\/\">Astronomical Observatories of Mallorca<\/a>\u00a0and La Sagra, Spain, where asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered.<\/p>\n<p>Confirmed guest speakers include Dr.\u00a0<strong>Michael F. A\u2019Hearn<\/strong>, the scientist who led NASA\u2019s\u00a0<strong>Deep Impact<\/strong>\u00a0mission, which launched the first man-made object into the nucleus of a comet, and Dr.\u00a0<strong>Harold Reitsema<\/strong>, a planetary scientist who is part of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/b612foundation.org\/\">B612 Foundation\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0private effort to launch a telescope that will locate and track asteroids that could hit Earth. Also speaking is UCF Professor\u00a0<strong>Dan Britt<\/strong>, an expert in out-of-this-world rocks. Every NASA rover that\u2019s been sent to Mars, including the current Curiosity Rover, has included equipment Britt designed to help determine the makeup of rocks found on the planet. Campins also will speak and be part of the panel that will answer questions and provide commentary during the flyby.\u00a0<strong>Ray Lugo<\/strong>, the new director of the Florida Space Institute, will moderate the panel.<\/p>\n<p>NASA has identified more than 4,700\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/today.ucf.edu\/asteroid-encounter-at-ucf-set-for-feb-15\/(http:\/\/www.cos.ucf.edu\/asteroid\/students\/\">asteroids<\/a>\u00a0 that pose a potential threat to Earth. If one of the larger ones were to collide with the planet, it would be catastrophic. But the odds are that such a collision won\u2019t happen in this lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it has happened and it can happen again,\u201d Campins said. \u201cSo as a species it is important we learn all we can about asteroids in case we have to deflect one. And there are other reasons for us to investigate. Asteroids could provide precious resources both to Earth and to space travelers, and they hold secrets to how our planet and life on it formed. That\u2019s why these objects are getting so much attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NASA, the European Space Agency and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency are working on missions to fly to a nearby asteroid and collect samples. Campins is working on NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx and the European Space Agency\u2019s MarcoPolo-R missions launching in the next few years.<\/p>\n<p>The presenters promise the event will give attendees plenty of interesting information about asteroids as a precursor to the special viewing. And to keep the event in a festive mood, UCF astronomers also will demonstrate a science experiment that results in an asteroid you can eat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do serious work that is important,\u201d Campins said. \u201cAnd we also know how to have a little fun.\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=7y-41ByfVSM\">click here to see a video about the event<\/a>\u00a0)<\/p>\n<p>Members of the media also are welcomed to attend UCF\u2019s asteroid viewing party from 1 to 3p.m. Feb. 15. Visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cos.ucf.edu\/asteroid\">www.cos.ucf.edu\/asteroid<\/a>\u00a0for details and to register.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An asteroid, the size of half a city block, will buzz Earth\u2019s surface on Feb. 15, squeezing by communication satellites orbiting the planet. The University of Central Florida will host a free 1 p.m. viewing party for the public to watch this event via feeds from telescopes in Spain, where it will be nighttime. UCF\u2019s\u00a0Humberto [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":6316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[38,6,13,14,15,28,29],"tags":[347,350,1286,1587,2143,2376,2571,2577,3139,3457,3466,3550,3592],"class_list":["post-5222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-events","category-news","category-physics-departments","category-planetary-sciences","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","tag-asteroid","tag-asteroids","tag-florida","tag-humberto-campins","tag-mallorca","tag-nasa","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-events","tag-space","tag-ucf","tag-ucf-alumni","tag-ucf-events","tag-ucf-news-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Asteroid Encounter at UCF - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/whizzing-asteroid-turns-rocket-scientists-heads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Asteroid Encounter at UCF - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An asteroid, the size of half a city block, will buzz Earth\u2019s surface on Feb. 15, squeezing by communication satellites orbiting the planet. The University of Central Florida will host a free 1 p.m. viewing party for the public to watch this event via feeds from telescopes in Spain, where it will be nighttime. 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