Jun 27

(6/27) AIAA LA Planetary Defense and Asteroid Exploration mini-Conference 2026

Dear All,

Please join us for the AIAA LA Planetary Defense and Asteroid Exploration (mini-)Conference 2026 on Saturday, June 27, 2026 at the Lynwood Unified School District, Lynwood, CA, or online. This event is open to the public.

All are invited to join online or in person and to meet and interact with the leaders and practitioners of Planetary Defense an Asteroid Exploration. Tentatively the morning sessions will be presentations, and the afternoon sessions will be mostly workshop / contests.

Lynwood Unified School District (Meeting Room)
11321 Bullis Rd, Lynwood, CA 90262
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Virtual location

You will receive a confirmation email with a URL.

Jun 27, 2026 08:00am PT - Jun 27, 2026 05:30pm PT

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Dr. Nahum Melamed

(Moderator / Event Lead, and Speaker)

AIAA Distinguished Lecturer/Speaker

Project Leader, Guidance and Control Subdivision,

The Aerospace Corporation

(In-person)

Dr. Andrew Rivkin

(Speaker)

Planetary Astronomer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

"Planetary Defense After DART: What Have We Learned, and What Comes Next?"

(On-line, Remote Presentation)

Dr. Jason Pearl

(Speaker)

Physicist, Planetary Defense Group

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

"High-Fidelity Simulation of Asteroid Airbursts with Spheral++"

(On-line, Remote Presentation)

Brent W. Barbee

(Speaker)

Lead Planetary Defense Applications Scientist & Community Liaison

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

"Asteroid Disruption for Planetary Defense and the TERP RAPTOR Mission to Apophis"

(On-line, Remote Presentation)

Adrienne Rudolph

(Speaker)

Ph.D. student

Department of Aerospace Engineering

The University of Maryland at College Park

 CRESST-II researcher supported by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office

"Asteroid Disruption for Planetary Defense and the TERP RAPTOR Mission to Apophis"

(On-line, Remote Presentation)

Mr. Joe Carroll

(Speaker)

(mostly retired)

"Cheaper by the Dozen: Solar-Sailing Nanosats for Small-Body Missions"

(In-person Presentation)

Prof. Madhu Thangavelu

(Speaker)

Conductor, ASTE527 Graduate Space Concepts Studio,

USC Viterbi School of Engineering and USC School of Architecture

"LOSSOL: Line of Sight Speed of Light Directed Energy Planetary Defense Technology"

(In-Person Presentation)

Mr. Bill Maloney

(Speaker)

Member, Executive Team, The Mars Society 

Partnership Manager, Development Office and Mars Technology Institute

Committee Volunteer, Journal of Space Analog Research

"Nuclear Energy's Role in Settling Mars"

(In-Person Presentation)