Asteroid Institute’s work to build a dynamic map of the inner solar system presented virtually on the Explorer’s Club Facebook page.  

On May 18, Dr. Lu spoke on the work he and his team are doing to build the tools to calculate near-Earth asteroid orbits and how these tools will help build a four-dimensional map of the inner solar system. This map is a necessary first step in protecting the Earth from asteroid impacts, spurring scientific exploration and advancing space resource utilization. You can watch Dr. Lu’s talk virtual lecture here. Ed was introduced by fellow space explorer, private astronaut Richard Garriott. 

Throughout human history, mapping has been the key to the opening of new frontiers. Mapping of previously uncharted regions has enabled economic expansion and the development of new markets, science, and defense. For similar reasons, B612 and the Asteroid Institute argues that mapping the locations and trajectories of the millions of uncharted asteroids in our solar system is the key to opening up the space frontier.

This four-dimensional Space Map will be crucial to the economic development of space, the protection of the Earth from asteroid impacts, and to understanding the origin and evolution of Earth. 

Dr. Lu is the Executive Director of the Asteroid Institute, a program of B612 Foundation. 

B612 Foundation is organized with the mission to research and develop technologies and software that enable asteroid discovery, analysis, and mapping of our solar system with the goal of creating and disseminating data and technologies and software that support the emerging space ecosystem.