"Asteroid impact alert!" (MIT IAP 2026)
An asteroid may impact Earth — what should we do? The answer is planetary defense: a combined effort of scientists, engineers, and policymakers to detect, track, and mitigate asteroids and comets that pose a threat to Earth. This workshop will be a planetary defense exercise in which we imagine how to respond if an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. First, we will assess the risks of the asteroid impacting Earth. Next, we will calculate the effects of the asteroid’s impact onto Earth. Finally, we will pretend to send a spacecraft to scout the asteroid and decide how to deflect it based on real spacecraft images. Working in groups, you will learn what planetary defense is, how to run simple orbital and impact physics calculations, how to analyze spacecraft images… and how to avenge the dinosaurs.
Other teaching interests:
Planet formation
Asteroid geophysics
Machine learning for planetary science (for a tentative syllabus, click here)