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Profs & Pints: Answers from an Asteroid

Profs and Pints presents: "Answers from an Asteroid," with Dante Lauretta, professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona and principal investigator for NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to explore the asteroid Bennu.

Where did we come from? What is our destiny? Asteroids, the leftover debris from the solar system formation process, can answer these questions and teach us about the history of the sun and planets.

One near-earth asteroid, Bennu, is especially likely to offer clues to our past, as well as a potential disaster in our future. Its composition might record the earliest history of our solar system and contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Earths oceans. It is also one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids, as it has a relatively high probability of impacting the Earth late in the 22nd century.

The NASA mission OSIRIS-REx just arrived at Bennu, where it will determine Bennus physical and chemical properties. Such information is critical to know in the event of an impact mitigation mission. It will also tell us whether such asteroids contain natural resources--such such as water, organics, and precious metals--that may one day fuel the exploration of the solar system by robotic and manned spacecraft.

Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission, will be on hand to discuss the effort and shield the latest data and images produced by it. His talk in a pub will change how you see the night sky. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, save $2 with a student ID.)