Florida News

The science of averting disasters. From asteroid impacts to severe storms due to climate change

Central Florida Public Media | By Brendan Byrne

Published September 28, 2022 at 1:08 AM CDT

Illustration of NASA’s DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LICIACube prior to impact at the Didymos binary system.
Photo: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben — Illustration of NASA’s DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) LICIACube prior to impact at the Didymos binary system. Photo: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

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As Florida prepares for Hurricane Ian, NASA is hoping to deflect another natural disaster — an asteroid.

The agency successfully crashed a spacecraft into a space rock some seven million miles away. And while this asteroid is no threat to Earth, what scientists learn from this cosmic collision could help us better prepare to avert a future strike. We’ll talk with NASA’s head of science Thomas Zurbucan about the agency’s efforts to ward off asteroids.

Then, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of storms. As all eyes are on Hurricane Ian off Florida’s Gulf coast, NASA is keeping a watchful eye on the weather from above. We’ll revisit a conversation about NASA’s efforts to study climate change from above and its impact here on Earth.