#AsteroidDayReflections: Remembering 2022
#AsteroidDayReflections: Remembering 2022 https://asteroidday-uploads.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/06205859/52208868278_3c52c0f5dd_o.jpg 2000 1331 Asteroid Day https://asteroidday-uploads.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/06205859/52208868278_3c52c0f5dd_o.jpg
In 2022, the whole world could watch the history of planetary defence in the making. It was a year of remarkable events that will certainly make it to science and space exploration books. We could see science fiction become reality and asteroids turn into a topic of conversation for many people all over the world. What appears to be a climax is actually just the beginning! During the last month of this year, we have a great opportunity to reflect on the plethora of remarkable asteroid exploration and planetary defence moments. So much to share and remember.
#AsteroidDayReflections – If you enjoy interacting via Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and other social networks, we would like to invite you to make short videos highlighting a piece of asteroid & planetary defence news, research, or art. Use the #AsteroidDayReflections hashtag and we will repost your video on our social media channels. Get a chance to be noticed by more than 400 000 of our followers all over the world.
Consider using one of these events we have observed in 2022:
DART impact – One of the key moments of 2022, when we were able to witness the first successful demonstration of asteroid deflection and also the first time that humanity managed to modify the appearance and orbit of a natural object in space. Read about this historic planetary defence mission here and find out the details of its results.
“Hello Earth!” by Lucy – In May, the Lucy probe recorded a lunar eclipse from space and in October it performed a gravitational assistance maneuver, capturing amazing photos of the Earth and the Moon to calibrate its instruments. Lucy will approach the Earth again in 2024 before reaching Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.
NEA Scout launched – In November the Artemis mission was finally launched to orbit the Moon and the NEA Scout CubeSat was there to determine the physical properties of a near-Earth asteroid.
Ryugu Secrets – materials from this asteroid collected by the Hayabusa2 mission continue to fuel many studies based on the samples that arrived on Earth, including the detection of several types of amino acids and their possible origin occurring in the outer reaches of the Solar System.
Asteroid Conferences – in 2022 important conferences were held to bring the asteroids, space missions, resources, and planetary defence into the spotlight. We can highlight the Space Resources Week in Luxembourg held in May, the International Cooperation for Planetary Defense held virtually in June, The Exploration of Asteroids symposium in the Netherlands last November and the symposium held by JAXA in the same month that presented the results of the Asteroid Ryugu samples studies.
In-person Asteroid Day LIVE is back! – The big comeback of our biggest in-person event Asteroid Day LIVE finally happened after a long 2 year hiatus! More than 40 experts, astronauts and scientists flew from all over the world to Broadcasting Centre Europe’s state-of-the-art studio in Luxembourg to bring to you our 4-hour program packed with one sensational topic: asteroids! Watch it again and share your favourite moments.
Don’t forget to register your event online and submit your event report later. This way we can share your highlights on our website to inspire others!
Asteroid Dimorphos just before the DART impact (NASA)
Image of Earth taken by Lucy probe (NASA)
Image of asteroid Ryugu taken by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft (JAXA)
Artemis launch (YouTube/NASA TV)
Space Resources Week held in Luxembourg
