Making a case for the need to detect asteroids before they hit Earth, a former astronaut said Wednesday that the number of casualties would have been enormous had the space rock that exploded in Russia last month blown apart directly over New York City instead. “We’d...
On March 21, 2013, Dr. Ed Lu spoke at a Senate subcommittee (U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation) hearing convened to discuss space-borne threats to human civilization....
Humanity has the technical know-how to deflect a killer asteroid away from Earth, but whether the world can come together to pull it off in time is another matter. A looming asteroid strike would be a global problem demanding a complex and coordinated response, experts say....
Ed Lu Ph.D. 89 is a former NASA astronaut more recently known for his work as CEO of the B612 Foundation, which aims to “hunt asteroids that could hit the Earth and potentially cause human devastation.” Lu sat down with The Daily to discuss his...
Can humans do better than the dinosaurs? This is one of a string of questions I posed in a Skype chat on Sunday with Russell L. Schweickart, the Apollo 9 astronaut who has become a leading proponent of investing in tools that can spot and deflect...
Earth may have survived its close encounters with an asteroid and a meteor Friday, but the episodes focused new attention on gaps in astronomers' ability to identify smaller space rocks like these capable of inflicting widespread destruction. Efforts to better identify those threats are underway, including...
We have received a tremendous amount of inquires on the Chelyabinsk event last Friday. Board member Clark Chapman and CEO Ed Lu put together this FAQ for our community. As the world had two cosmic events in one day, we’re doing our best to bring you...
A group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who helped build thriving companies have put millions of dollars into the effort of asteroid defense and Ed Lu’s B612 Foundation is one. "Wouldn’t it be silly if we got wiped out because we weren’t looking?” said Edward Lu, a...
[caption id="attachment_23849" align="alignnone" width="860"] REUTERS/Copyright 2013 EUMETSAT/Handout[/caption] Scientists have begun piecing together the characteristics of the meteor that exploded over Russia on the morning of February 15, using data from seismic instruments that track earthquakes and microphones designed to detect sonic booms from nuclear explosions. Unlike...
Today's meteor explosion over Chelyabinsk is a reminder that the Earth orbits the Sun in a shooting gallery of asteroids, and that these asteroids sometimes hit the Earth. Later today, a separate and larger asteroid, 2012 DA14, will narrowly miss the Earth passing beneath the...