Join us for another edition of “Look Up it is an Asteroid” at the NSS ISDC 2025, where we’re turning science fiction into real science so you can help us defend Earth from potentially killer asteroids. Are you curious about whether there is a current probability of Asteroid Apophis impacting Earth in 2029? A new asteroid alert: 2024 YR4 was initially flagged as potentially impacting Earth on December 22, 2032. However, thanks to observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, what is the current probability? Did you know that experts recently estimated a 3.8% chance of 2024 YR4 impacting the Moon?! In our interactive Special Session Workshop, experts will answer these questions and discuss the newest advancements, challenges, and future directions in planetary defense, safeguarding not only Earth but also extending our reach to the Moon and beyond. This year, Nancy C. Wolfson, founder of the Planetary Defense and Beyond Program – Look Up it is an Asteroid – will highlight both how our attendees and the next generation can actively participate in NEO discovery efforts through the Astrometrica software, and how non-governmental organizations can be an important voice for the future of planetary defense, also supporting the crucial work of our space agencies. Together, we can help protect the future of humanity on Earth, the Moon, and beyond!
Planetary Defense Workshop
Session Chair Info
Nancy C. Wolfson
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
Nancy C. Wolfson is a Washington, D.C., US-based scholar, lecturer, and researcher. Nancy is a published author with over 18 years of professional managerial experience. President of Disrupting Space, a company dedicated to analog and risk management space-related research and developing international partnership opportunities for various space activities. Nancy focuses on space exploration, sustainability, and planetary defense research and Read More
Planetary Defense Workshop Speakers
Dr. Daniel Britt
Pegasus Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, University of Central Florida
Dr. Daniel Britt is the Pegasus Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the Department of Physics, University of Central Florida. He was educated at the University of Washington and Brown University, receiving a Ph.D. from Brown in 1991. He has served on the science teams of four NASA missions, Mars Pathfinder and Deep Space 1, the New Horizons Read More
Dr. Joseph Harrington
Interim Associate Vice President for Research and Scholarship, University of Central Florida
Dr. Harrington began observing and modeling giant planets as an undergraduate at MIT. His pre-impact model of the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994, part of his MIT PhD thesis in planetary sciences, was published on the cover of Nature and sparked the worldwide media spree surrounding that event. Dr. Harrington then held a National Research Read More
Dr. Richard Jerousek
Associate Lecturer/Observatory Director, University of Central Florida
Dr. Richard Jerousek earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Central Florida in 2018. His research interests include the dynamics and structure of planetary rings and the origin of planetary systems. He worked on the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) team from 2008 until the end of the Cassini mission in 2017 studying the characteristics of the Read More
Dr. Sean Marshall
Scientist, Arecibo Observatory and Research Assistant Professor, Florida Space Institute
Dr. Sean Marshall is a planetary scientist in the Florida Space Institute at the University of Central Florida. He received B.S. degrees in Physics and Astronomy from Arizona State University in 2010, and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Cornell University in 2017. Read More
Dr. Audrey Martin
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Central Florida
Presentation Title: Planetary Defense Workshop
Dr. Audrey Martin is a Postdoctoral Researcher who holds a BSc in Physics from Saint Louis University and a PhD in Astronomy and Planetary Science from Northern Arizona University. As a planetary scientist, Audrey seeks to answer the question “How Did the Solar System Form?” To unravel the complexity of Solar System formation, she focuses her research on asteroid Read More
Nancy C. Wolfson
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
Nancy C. Wolfson is a Washington, D.C., US-based scholar, lecturer, and researcher. Nancy is a published author with over 18 years of professional managerial experience. President of Disrupting Space, a company dedicated to analog and risk management space-related research and developing international partnership opportunities for various space activities. Nancy focuses on space exploration, sustainability, and planetary defense research and Read More
