PLEASE NOTE: Brian May will participate from the UK via video link.
LONDON (28 January 2016)
Building on the highly successful first-ever Asteroid Day in 2015, organisers, together with the European Space Agency, will announce partners and the addition of premier and independently organised events for Asteroid Day 2016, scheduled for 30 June around the world.
DATE OF PRESS CONFERENCE: 9 February 2016
TIME: 15:00 CET
LOCATION: ESA ESTEC., Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands
SPEAKERS: See below
Press conference will be webcast for the public online via esa.int and AsteroidDay.org.
Asteroid Day is a global movement to increase public awareness of potential asteroid collisions and the means to protect Earth. It was co-founded in 2015, by Dr. Brian May, astrophysicist and lead guitarist for the rock band Queen, Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart, and German filmmaker Grig Richters. Asteroid Day is held on 30 June each year to mark Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history, the Siberia Tunguska event, which devastated over 2000 square km, the size of a major metropolitan city.
On Asteroid Day, people from around the world come together to recognise the collective responsibility to address asteroid impacts, the only natural disaster humankind can prevent through increased awareness and education. Events include lectures, films, expert science presentations and educational workshops, variously organised by museums, research institutes, government agencies, universities, astronomers, filmmakers and concerned citizens. In 2015, on the inaugural Asteroid Day, partners organised more than 150 events worldwide, educating millions of people and generating some 4 billion media impressions.
Press Conference Participants:
[Note: Most participants will not be at the ESA ESTEC in person but via video (as will Brian May be via video link).
Host Emcee: Dr. Stuart Clark, Astronomy Author and Journalist
Dr. Brian May, Astrophysicist, Co-founder of Asteroid Day
Grig Richters, Filmmaker and Co-founder of Asteroid Day
Franco Ongaro, Director of Technical and Quality Management, European Space Agency (ESA)
Ian Carnelli, Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) Manager, European Space Agency (ESA)
Detlef Koschny, Space Situational Awareness – Near-Earth Object co-Manager, European Space Agency (ESA)
Richard Moissl, Rosetta Instrument Liaison Officer, European Space Agency (ESA)
Dr. Patrick Michel, Planetary Scientist, Sr. Researcher at CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research)
Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, UK
Dr. Mark Boslough, Physicist and Planetary Defense expert; Sandia National Laboratories; Adjunct professor, University of New Mexico; Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Astronaut Dr. Ed Lu, Three-time Shuttle astronaut; Asteroid expert and Founder,CEO, B612 Foundation
Romanian Astronaut Dumitru Dorin Prunariu; Founding member, Association of Space Explorers (ASE) and liaison to the UN Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Space
Astronaut Dr. Tom Jones, Four-time Shuttle Astronaut; Planetary scientist, Chair, Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Committee on Near-Earth Objects.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut and first Canadian spacewalker Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, first Indian to space
More Participants will be announced soon.
Additional information on Asteroid Day and the 100x Asteroid Declaration as well as photos and BROLL are available at http://asteroidday.org/newsroom. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @AsteroidDay