Bringing Asteroids to Earth: A Trip to the Early Solar System

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You're invited to take a trip back in time! 

In 2020, JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission returned samples of the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu to Earth. Soon, the rare Ryugu samples will make their way to our campus, where EPL Staff Scientist Larry Nittler will study them for clues about the formation of our early Solar System.

Nittler has prepared a special Asteroid Day edition of our Neighborhood Lecture Series, which will go live on June 30 at 6:30 PM EST. In his talk, Nittler will discuss why we care about asteroid missions and how he uses these special space rocks to learn how the Solar System formed 4.5 billion years ago. 

Cosmochemist Larry Nittler studies the origin and evolution of stars, the Galaxy, and the Solar System, both through laboratory analysis of extraterrestrial materials like meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and through planetary remote sensing via spacecraft.
 
Nittler was one of only nine U.S. scientists selected by NASA to be a “participating scientist” in the Hayabusa2 mission. Nittler has been involved in the project since 2015 and has had a hand interpreting some initial data from Hayabusa2 throughout the six-year-long mission. 

Register for the zoom webinar >>
 

Our Neighborhood Lectures provide an opportunity to explore the world from the perspective of scientists who are working at the leading edge of scientific discovery. The lectures begin at 6:30 PM EDT and last for approximately one hour, followed by a brief question and answer period. Please note that registration will be required to access the Zoom webinar. We will also be streaming to our YouTube channel.