STARDUST – A FRESH LOOK AT PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE DEBRIS REMOVAL

Friday 30 September 12:30 – 13:30
Guadalajara hall 8

Stardust is a unique training and research network devoted to develop and master techniques for asteroid and space debris monitoring, removal/deflection and exploitation.Stardust is funded by the European Commission FP7 Marie Curie Action and for the past 4 years has trained the next generation of engineers, scientists and decision makers to protect our planet, save our space assets, and turn the threat represented by asteroids and space debris in an opportunity. The Stardust network now counts over 20 members including the European Space Agency, major companies like Airbus DS and Deimos, national research centres like CNR and CNRS, national observatories like the Paris Observatory and the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, SMEs like Dinamica and SpaceDys, and eight Universities and University research centres around the world, including the University of Tor Vergata, the University of Pisa, the University Polytechnic of Madrid, the University of Southampton, the University of Munich, DFKI in Bremen and the University of Arizona. Stardust, led by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, has pushed the boundaries of space research with innovative ideas and visionary concepts exploring alternative solutions to the threat represented by asteroids and space debris. Stardust integrated multiple disciplines, from robotics, to applied mathematics, from computational intelligence to astrodynamics, to find practical and effective solutions to the asteroid and space debris issues. This GNF event will present the major achievements of the Stardust network and will discuss, with key experts in the field of asteroids and space debris, existing problems and possible solutions.