Join us for another edition of the Planetary Defense Program’s Special Session, “Look Up, It’s an Asteroid!” Founded in 2024 by Nancy C. Wolfson at the National Space Society’s (NSS) International Space Development Conference (ISDC), this Planetary Defense (PD) program features an annual Technical Track, a dedicated information Booth-Table, and a high-level Planetary Defense Special Session designed to unite various branches of government, space agencies, and international organizations. Our PD Special Sessions and Workshops facilitate critical dialogue on comprehensive solutions across all areas of detecting, monitoring, understanding, predicting, preparing for, and mitigating near-Earth objects (NEOs).
As we approach the UN-endorsed International Year of Planetary Defence in 2029 (IYPD 2029), our platform expands the conversation from defending Earth to safeguarding the Moon and beyond. Our experts will discuss the latest developments and operational challenges across space situational awareness, mitigation technology demonstrations, and post-impact characterization. The session will explore past and ongoing asteroid missions, utilizing data from NASA’s DART mission and ESA’s HERA spacecraft to validate deflection models, while also addressing how threats like Apophis or 2024 YR4 navigate on and off the Torino Scale.
Our innovative, multi-generational Industry and NextGen demographic format invites our audience to participate in a survey designed to contribute to our understanding of public knowledge transfer. This data will be shared with the international planetary defense and NEO community, aiming to help close the gap between experts and non-experts to strengthen regional and global preparedness. Furthermore, the program explores the policy shift from reactive panic to a pre-funded, rapid-response infrastructure, examining economic models and financial ‘safe harbors’ that could secure instant liquidity the moment a threat is verified. Concluding this framework, we highlight the coined ‘Look Up’ protocols—a strategic communications initiative designed to make official scientific terminology and concepts accessible to decision-makers, the media, and the general public.
TOPIC 2026: The Johns Hopkins APL DART Mission Team: Hitting an Asteroid-From Dimorphos to Didymos and Beyond
MODERATOR: Nancy C. Wolfson, NSS ISDC Planetary Defense Program Manager, Space Education Professional, AIAA.
Embark on the 3rd edition of the NSS ISDC Planetary Defense Special Session, “Look Up: It’s an Asteroid,” a hybrid session tailored for Industry and NextGen with a synergistic approach. Join leaders from the Johns Hopkins APL DART Mission Team for an in-depth exploration of NASA’s historic first planetary defense test mission.
This session provides a unique opportunity to hear firsthand about the complex science and engineering behind the mission’s success. Speakers Dr. Elena Adams, Dr. Angela Stickle, Michelle Chen, and Dr. Andy Rivkin will share insights into the challenges faced during development and execution while discussing how to build on the data and findings learned from DART.
This synergistic discussion builds on the success of the DART mission. Dr. Quanzhi Ye highlights the vital role of ground- and space-based observations in identifying threats like Apophis or 2024 YR4 as they climb the Torino Scale, while James Anthony Wolff and Nancy C. Wolfson explore shifting the global strategy from reactive panic to pre-funded, rapid-response frameworks.
By examining economic “safe harbors” and PD “Look Up” protocols, we aim to unify experts and decision-makers, ensuring that milestones like DART serve as definitive models for preparedness and response to future hazardous threats. We invite you to participate in our NSS ISDC planetary defense survey and contribute to the international efforts to defend Earth from hazardous asteroids.
Planetary Defense Workshop
NSS ISDC Planetary Defense Program Manager
Nancy C. Wolfson
Planetary Defense (PD) Program Management, Founder: "Look Up, It's an Asteroid" and IAF PD-NEO Symposium E10
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 education. Nancy was elected Vice-Chair of the International Astronautical Federation’s (IAF) Read More
Planetary Defense Workshop
Workshop Speakers Info
Dr. Elena Adams
Program Manager and DART Mission Systems Engineer, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Elena Adams, is the mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and her team helped orchestrate NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test—a first-of-its-kind, proof-of-concept mission that will intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid’s moonlet to deflect it away from its course. Read More
Dr. Andrew Rivkin
Principal Professional Staff, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Dr. Andrew Rivkin is a planetary astronomer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. He was born in New York City, and obtained his undergraduate degree from MIT in 1991 followed by a PhD in Planetary Sciences from the University of Arizona in 1997. Rivkin was Investigation Lead for the recent Double Asteroid Redirection Test, NASA’s first planetary defense test mission, and has remained active in planetary defense work as Read More
Dr. Angela Stickle
Planetary Scientist; Hypervelocity Impact Physicist, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Dr. Angela Stickle is a planetary geologist specializing in hypervelocity impact processes and dynamic failure of materials. She is a co-investigator on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Mini-RF radar and LAMP UV spectrometer, a co-investigator on the Dragonfly mission, a team member on Europa Clipper’s Europa Imaging System (EIS), the lead for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission’s Impact Modeling Working Group, and a member of the Steering Committee and Read More
James Anthony Wolff
Partner, Greenspoon Marder LLP
James Anthony Wolff is a partner at Greenspoon Marder LLP and a space, AI, and emerging technologies attorney focused on the legal and capital architecture of frontier industries. His work spans space policy, planetary defense finance, and the structuring of mission-driven ventures operating at the intersection of law, science, and long-term risk. In 2023, he was a co-founder recipient of a NASA award for advanced space systems research, followed by Read More
Dr. Quanzhi Ye
Researcher, University of Maryland
Quanzhi is a research faculty member at the Department of Astronomy of the University of Maryland. Currently, he lives in the Boston area and is also a long-term visitor at the Center for Space Physics of Boston University. He is primarily interested in the small bodies of the Solar System – asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. These objects are pristine remnants from the early times of the Solar System and can Read More