Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders and Shuttle astronauts Ed Lu and Tom Jones to announce plans to protect Earth from asteroids
SEATTLE – In a special Earth Day press conference at 11:30 a.m. on April 22, The Museum of Flight will host three prominent US astronauts supporting the B612 Foundation’s unveiling of a new video showing the surprising number of asteroid impacts on Earth during the last decade, and the even more surprising fact that we can prevent future asteroid impacts. Space shuttle astronauts Ed Lu and Tom Jones, and Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders are the featured speakers. Museum President and CEO, Doug King, will host the conference. The event will be live-streamed via the B612 Foundation Website, b612foundation.org
The speakers will be available to media immediately before and after the conference, which will be next to the Space Shuttle Trainer in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery. Lu and Jones will also be presenting the announcement during a free, public program at the Museum at 6 p.m.
The Threat of Asteroids to the Planet
The video shows data from the nuclear weapons test warning network supplied by Peter Brown, Western University of Canada. This network has detected 26 multi-kiloton explosions since 2001, all of which are due to asteroid impacts. “This shows that asteroid impacts are NOT rare – but actually three to ten times more common than we previously thought.” stated B612 Foundation cofounder Ed Lu. “The fact that none of these asteroid impacts shown in the video was detected in advance shows that the only thing preventing a catastrophe from a ‘city-killer-sized’ asteroid is blind luck. The goal of the B612 Sentinel Mission is to find and track asteroids decades before they hit Earth, allowing us to easily deflect them.”
The B612 Foundation is partnered with Ball Aerospace to build the Sentinel Infrared Space Telescope Mission. From a Venus-like orbit around the Sun, Sentinel will be the most capable system for finding and tracking asteroids ever built.
A backdrop to the press conference is a new mural of the famous “Earthrise” photograph, photographed by Bill Anders on Christmas Eve, 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission to the Moon. The mural will be permanently installed at the Museum as a tribute to people who made humankind’s first trip beyond Earth orbit, and as a reminder to all of the singularity of our home planet. (A copy of the NASA/Bill Anders photo is on this media release.)
Evening Public Program
At 6 p.m. at the Museum, there will be a free lecture by astronauts Ed Lu and Tom Jones. They will talk about the goals of the B612 and plans to change the orbit of an asteroid in order to demonstrate that humankind can indeed protect the Earth from future asteroid impacts. Four-time US shuttle astronaut Tom Jones will also explain the recent UN resolution calling for international cooperation for detection of dangerous asteroids.
For more information about Ed Lu see b612foundation.org
For more information about Tom Jones see astronauttomjones.com
Astronaut Speakers
Edward Lu – US NASA astronaut who flew three space missions including a stint of six months on the International Space Station, currently serves as CEO, B612 Foundation. He previously led the Advanced Projects group at Google, where his teams developed imaging technology for Google Earth/Maps, Google Street View, and energy information products including Google PowerMeter. He is the co-inventor of the Gravity Tractor, a spacecraft able to controllably alter the orbit of an asteroid. He has published scientific articles on high-energy astrophysics, solar physics, plasma physics, cosmology, and statistical physics.
Thomas Jones – US NASA astronaut who flew four space shuttle missions, currently serves as senior research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and chairman of the Association of Space Explorers NEO Committee.
Bill Anders – USAF pilot and NASA astronaut who flew on Apollo 8, the first mission to orbit the Moon, Anders has held numerous high level positions in government, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and in the private sector, held executive positions at GE, Textron, and General Dynamics. He currently leads the Anders Foundation. The Anders Crater on the Moon is named in his honor.
About The B612 Foundation
The B612 Foundation aims to build, launch, and operate the world’s first privately funded deep space telescope that will create the first comprehensive dynamic map of our inner solar system, identifying the current and future locations and trajectories of Earth crossing asteroids.
The B612 Foundation is named for the asteroid home of the “Little Prince” in the Antoine Saint-Exupery classic novel. The Little Prince came to realize that what is essential in life, is often invisible to the human eye. The B612 Foundation shows how we can protect Earth from asteroids, and is turning this vision into reality today.
The independent, non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, attracting more than 500,000 visitors annually. The Museum’s collection includes more than 160 historically significant air- and spacecraft, the original manufacturing facility of The Boeing Co., and the world’s only full-scale NASA Space Shuttle Trainer. The Museum’s aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast. More than 100,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum’s on-site and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field half-way between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $19 for adults, $16 for seniors 65 and older, $16 for active military, $11 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5. Group rates are available. Admission on the first Thursday of the month is free from 5 to 9 p.m. courtesy of Wells Fargo. McCormick & Schmick’s Wings Café is on site. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org