SPACE::TALK #35 – Planetary defence: can we protect the Earth?

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SPACE::TALK is a regular meetup for people interested in space research and space engineering.

SPACE::TALK #35 will take place on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at 6PM at Bulharská 4, Košice.

TALK: Planetary defense: can we protect the Earth?

Over the past 30 years, our knowledge of asteroids and comets near Earth has expanded dramatically. We have discovered more than 41,000 near-Earth objects and over 1.5 million asteroids in total, with new discoveries being made on almost daily basis. We have significantly improved methods for detecting and tracking them, and for the first time we have also practically demonstrated the ability to alter an asteroid’s orbit. Does this mean that the problem of planetary defence is now solved? Or do major challenges still await us in protecting Earth from potential impacts?

SPEAKERS: Peter Vereš, astronomer and astrophysicist

He earned his PhD at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of Comenius University in Bratislava. He spent fifteen years working in the United States at the University of Hawaii, the California Institute of Technology, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He is currently a SAIA grant host at Comenius University in Bratislava and collaborates as a consultant with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. He works in planetary defence, focusing in particular on the discovery and study of near-Earth asteroids, orbit determination, detection of asteroids and comets, and simulations of future survey telescopes.

SPACE::TALK is an activity of the Department of Space Physics SAS under the SPACE::LAB trademark