AIAA Los Angeles Planetary Defense and Asteroid Exploration (mini-)Conference

RSVP Information: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/x2ec6du/lp/249b9aea-0bae-48ac-a4cf-b85a036ac6a2
AIAA LA 6/27 Section (mini-) Conference
(A hybrid event: In-person and online attendance)
Saturday, June 27, 2026, 8 AM PDT (GMT -0700)

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

Virtual location
You will receive a confirmation email with a URL.
Jun 27, 2026 08:00am PT - Jun 27, 2026 05:30pm PT

Register (and Information)
Tentative Agenda: (All Times PDT (U.S. and Canada)) (GMT -0700)
07:30 AM PDT: Check-in; Networking
Morning Session
08:00 AM PDT: Welcome (Dr. Nahum Melamed and AIAA LA Section)
08:05 AM PDT: Dr. Andrew Rivkin: Planetary Defense After DART: What Have We Learned, and What Comes Next?
09:05 AM PDT: Dr. Nahum Melamed: Progress on Planetary Defense and Asteroid Exploration
09:35 AM PDT: Brent W. Barbee and Adrienne Rudolph: Asteroid Disruption for Planetary Defense and the TERP RAPTOR Mission to Apophis
10:35 AM PDT: Dr. Jason Pearl: High-Fidelity Simulation of Asteroid Airbursts with Spheral++
11:35 AM PDT: Joe Carroll: Cheaper by the Dozen: Solar-Sailing Nanosats for Small-Body Missions
12:05 PM PDT: Madhu Thangavelu: LOSSOL: Line of Sight Speed of Light Directed Energy Planetary Defense Technology
12:35 PM PDT: Bill Maloney: (TBD)
01:05 PM PDT: Lunch Break
Afternoon Session
02:00 PM PDT: Hands-on Workshop on the NASA JPL NEO Deflection App
03:00 PM PDT: Planetary Defense Scenario Group Contest (Mixed professionals and students)
04:00 PM PDT: Award ceremony for the Planetary Defense Scenario Group Contest
04:15 PM PDT: Student Presentations
05:00 PM PDT: Dr. Nahum Melamed: Opportunities and Future of Planetary Defense and Asteroid Exploration
05:30 PM PDT: Adjourn
Speakers:
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)
Disclaimer: The views of the speakers do not represent the views of AIAA or the AIAA Los Angeles Section.
The generous donation and sponsorship from the following are highly appreciated:

(If you would like to donate / sponsor, please email: contact@aiaa-lalv.org Or click the link / scan QR-Code below (or, use the donation options in the RSVP / ticketing process))
Thank you very much.

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=QTN5D6G64RZGA
[AIAA Los Angeles Section], [contact@aiaa-lalv.org], [https://www.aiaa-lalv.org]