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By NASA
5 min read
How NASA Science Data Defends Earth from Asteroids
Artist’s impression of NASA’s DART mission, which collided with the asteroid Dimorphos in 2022 to test planetary defense techniques. Open science data practices help researchers identify asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth, opening the possibility for deflection should an impact threat be identified. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben The asteroid 2024 YR4 made headlines in February with the news that it had a chance of hitting Earth on Dec. 22, 2032, as determined by an analysis from NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The probability of collision peaked at over 3% on Feb. 18 — the highest ever recorded for an object of its size. This sparked concerns about the damage the asteroid might do should it hit Earth.
New data collected in the following days lowered the probability to well under 1%, and 2024 YR4 is no longer considered a potential Earth impactor. However, the event underscored the importance of surveying asteroid populations to reveal possible threats to Earth. Sharing scientific data widely allows scientists to determine the risk posed by the near-Earth asteroid population and increases the chances of identifying future asteroid impact hazards in NASA science data.
“The planetary defense community realizes the value of making data products available to everyone,” said James “Gerbs” Bauer, the principal investigator for NASA’s Planetary Data System Small Bodies Node at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
How Scientists Spot Asteroids That Could Hit Earth
Professional scientists and citizen scientists worldwide play a role in tracking asteroids. The Minor Planet Center, which is housed at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, collects and verifies vast numbers of asteroid and comet position observations submitted from around the globe. NASA’s Small Bodies Node distributes the data from the Minor Planet Center for anyone who wants to access and use it.
A near-Earth object (NEO) is an asteroid or comet whose orbit brings it within 120 million miles of the Sun, which means it can circulate through Earth’s orbital neighborhood. If a newly discovered object looks like it might be an NEO, information about the object appears on the Minor Planet Center’s NEO Confirmation Page. Members of the planetary science community, whether or not they are professional scientists, are encouraged to follow up on these objects to discover where they’re heading.
The asteroid 2024 YR4 as viewed on January 27, 2025. The image was taken by the Magdalena Ridge 2.4m telescope, one of the largest telescopes in NASA’s Planetary Defense network. Asteroid position information from observations such as this one are shared through the Minor Planet Center and NASA’s Small Bodies Node to help scientists pinpoint the chances of asteroids colliding with Earth. NASA/Magdalena Ridge 2.4m telescope/New Mexico Institute of Technology/Ryan When an asteroid’s trajectory looks concerning, CNEOS alerts NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington, which manages NASA’s ongoing effort to protect Earth from dangerous asteroids. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office also coordinates the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), which is the worldwide collaboration of asteroid observers and modelers.
Orbit analysis centers such as CNEOS perform finer calculations to nail down the probability of an asteroid colliding with Earth. The open nature of the data allows the community to collaborate and compare, ensuring the most accurate determinations possible.
How NASA Discovered Risks of Asteroid 2024 YR4
The asteroid 2024 YR4 was initially discovered by the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey, which aims to discover potentially hazardous asteroids. Scientists studied additional data about the asteroid from different observatories funded by NASA and from other telescopes across the IAWN.
At first, 2024 YR4 had a broad uncertainty in its future trajectory that passed over Earth. As the planetary defense community collected more observations, the range of possibilities for the asteroid’s future position on Dec. 22, 2032 clustered over Earth, raising the apparent chances of collision. However, with the addition of even more data points, the cluster of possibilities eventually moved off Earth.
This visualization from NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies shows the evolution of the risk corridor for asteroid 2024 YR4, using data from observations made up to Feb. 23, 2025. Each yellow dot represents the asteroid’s possible location on Dec. 22, 2032. As the range of possible locations narrowed, the dots at first converged on Earth, before skewing away harmlessly. NASA/JPL/CNEOS Having multiple streams of data available for analysis helps scientists quickly learn more about NEOs. This sometimes involves using data from observatories that are mainly used for astrophysics or heliophysics surveys, rather than for tracking asteroids.
“The planetary defense community both benefits from and is beneficial to the larger planetary and astronomy related ecosystem,” said Bauer, who is also a research professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland. “Much of the NEO survey data can also be used for searching astrophysical transients like supernova events. Likewise, astrophysical sky surveys produce data of interest to the planetary defense community.”
How Does NASA Stop Asteroids From Hitting Earth?
In 2022, NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission successfully impacted with the asteroid Dimorphos, shortening the time it takes to orbit around its companion asteroid Didymos by 33 minutes. Didymos had no chance of hitting Earth, but the DART mission’s success means that NASA has a tested technique to consider when addressing a future asteroid potential impact threat.
Artist’s impression of NASA’s upcoming NEO Surveyor mission, which will search for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. The mission will follow open data practices to improve the chances of identifying dangerous asteroids. NASA/JPL-Caltech To increase the chances of discovering asteroid threats to Earth well in advance, NASA is working on a new space-based observatory, NEO Surveyor, which will be the first spacecraft specifically designed to look for asteroids and comets that pose a hazard to Earth. The mission is expected to launch in the fall of 2027, and the data it collects will be available to everyone through NASA archives.
“Many of the NEOs that pose a risk to Earth remain to be found,” Bauer said. “An asteroid impact has a very low likelihood at any given time, but consequences could be high, and open science is an important component to being vigilant.”
For more information about NASA’s approach to sharing science data, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/open-science.
By Lauren Leese
Web Content Strategist for the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer
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Last Updated Apr 10, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Science Activation GLOBE, NASA, and the Monsignor… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 4 min read
GLOBE, NASA, and the Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, New York
When students actively participate in scientific investigations that connect to their everyday lives, something powerful happens: they begin to see themselves as scientists. This sense of relevance and ownership can spark a lifelong interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), paving the way for continued education and even future careers in these fields. Opportunities to engage directly with NASA science—like the one you’ll read about in this story—not only deepen students’ understanding of STEM concepts, but also nourish their curiosity and confidence. With the support of passionate educators, these moments of participation become stepping stones to a future in which students see themselves as contributors to real-world science.
In September 2021, Ms. Deanna Danke, a Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School mathematics teacher in Queens, New York, began teaching her students how to measure tree heights using trigonometry. Soon enough, Ms. Danke discovered the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Observer Trees Tool, and with her 150+ students, began taking tree height observations around the school, an activity that Ms. Danke and her students continue to participate in today. Her and her students’ hundreds of repeat tree height observations have provided student and professional researchers with clusters of measurements that can coincide with measurements made by NASA satellite instruments, allowing for a comparison of datasets that can be analyzed over time.
Due to the consistent tree height data collection resulting from this effort, Ms. Danke was asked to be a co-author on a peer-reviewed research paper that was published on June 21, 2022 in the Environmental Research Letters special journal “Focus on Public Participation in Environmental Research.” The paper, “The potential of citizen science data to complement satellite and airborne lidar tree height measurements: lessons from The GLOBE Program,” included data from the tree height observations reported by Ms. Danke and her students—an incredible achievement for everyone involved.
On March 21, 2025, Ms. Danke’s former and current students continued their inspiring adventures with NASA science by taking a trip to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. Highlights from this trip included science and technology presentations by personnel from the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Missions, the Wallops Balloon Program Office, and the Wallops Machine Shop for Fabrication and Testing. The ICESat-2 presentation, in particular, included a discussion on the student-collected tree height data and how the ICESat-2 satellite makes tree height observations from space.
Ms. Danke’s work is a testament to the incredible impact educators can have when they connect classroom learning to authentic scientific discovery. By introducing her students to tools like the GLOBE Observer Trees Tool and facilitating meaningful contributions to NASA science, she opened the door to experiences most students only dream of—from collecting data that supports satellite missions to co-authoring peer-reviewed research and visiting NASA facilities. Stories like this remind us that when students are empowered to be part of real science, the possibilities—for learning, inspiration, and future careers in STEM—are truly limitless.
The GLOBE Observer app, used by Ms. Danke and her students, is made possible by the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC). This free mobile app includes four tools that enable citizen scientists to participate in NASA science: Clouds, Mosquito Habitat Mapper, Land Cover, and Trees. Learn more about ways that you can join and participate in this and other NASA Citizen Science projects. Through these projects, sometimes called “participatory science” projects, volunteers and amateurs have helped make thousands of important scientific discoveries, and they are open to everyone around the world (no citizenship required).
NESEC is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AE28A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Map of tree height around the Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School from the GLOBE Program’s Visualization System. I know this was an experience they will remember forever and they have already told me that they cannot wait to tell their future children about it. It was wonderful meeting you in person and being on site to get a real sense of what you are working on. The boys were especially fascinated by the last two stops on the tour and appreciated learning a little more about how tree height is measured. Thank you again for this incredible opportunity.”
Ms. Deanna Danke
Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Have we ever been to Uranus?
The answer is simple, yes, but only once. The Voyager II spacecraft flew by the planet Uranus back in 1986, during a golden era when the Voyager spacecraft explored all four giant planets of our solar system. It revealed an extreme world, a planet that had been bowled over onto its side by some extreme cataclysm early in the formation of the solar system.
That means that its seasons and its magnetic field get exposed to the most dramatic seasonal variability of any place that we know of in the solar system. The atmosphere was a churning system made of methane and hydrogen and water, with methane clouds showing up as white against the bluer background of the planet itself.
The densely packed ring system is host to a number of very fine, narrow and dusty rings surrounded by a collection of icy satellites. And those satellites may harbor deep, dark, hidden oceans beneath an icy crust of water ice.
Taken together, this extreme and exciting system is somewhere that we simply must go back to explore and hopefully in the next one to two decades NASA and the European Space Agency will mount an ambitious mission to go out there and explore the Uranian system. It’s important not just for solar system science, but also for the growing field of exoplanet science. As planets of this particular size, the size of Uranus, about four times wider than planet Earth, seem to be commonplace throughout our galaxy.
So how have we been to Uranus? Yes, but it’s time that we went back.
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By NASA
Nick Kopp is a Dragon flight lead in the Transportation Integration Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston. He is currently leading NASA’s efforts to prepare, launch, and return the agency’s 32nd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission. He works directly with SpaceX and collaborates with NASA’s many internal, external, and international partners to ensure the success of this and other cargo missions to the International Space Station.
Read on to learn about his career with NASA and more!
Nick Kopp’s official portrait.NASA/Bill Stafford The time and effort spent building, maintaining, and conducting science on the International Space Station is spent by people in our community and communities around the world to further humanity's collective understanding of the universe around us.
Nick Kopp
Transportation Integration Office Flight Lead
Where are you from?
I am from Cleveland, Ohio.
Tell us about your role at NASA.
I work directly with SpaceX to ensure the Dragon cargo spacecraft meets NASA’s requirements to visit the space station. I also collaborate with NASA’s various partners who are safely flying science investigations and other cargo to and from the space station. For the upcoming flight, I’ve worked extensively with SpaceX to prepare to return the Dragon cargo spacecraft off the coast of California.
How would you describe your job to family or friends who may not be familiar with NASA?
I’m responsible for getting stuff to and from the International Space Station safely.
How long have you been working for NASA?
I have been working for NASA for about 15 years at both Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama and Johnson Space Center in Texas.
What advice would you give to young individuals aspiring to work in the space industry or at NASA?
It takes so many different people with all kinds of different skills working together to make missions happen. I would suggest looking at NASA’s websites to find the skill or task that makes you want to learn more and then focusing your energy into that skill. Surround yourself with people with similar goals. Connect with people in the industry and ask them questions. You are in control of your destiny!
Nick Kopp in front of the International Space Station Payload Operations Center at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. What was your path to NASA?
I’ve wanted to work at NASA since I was a kid and my grandfather showed me the Moon through his home-built telescope. I studied aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois, where I joined Students for the Exploration and Development of Space and attended a conference at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. I met some folks from the Payload Operations Integration Center and learned of the awesome space station science operations at Marshall. I was lucky enough to be chosen for a contractor job working directly with astronauts on the space station to conduct science experiments!
Is there someone in the space, aerospace, or science industry that has motivated or inspired you to work for the space program? Or someone you discovered while working for NASA who inspires you?
After working with him from the ground when he was aboard the space station, I was lucky enough to spend many overnight shifts getting to know NASA astronaut and Flight Director TJ Creamer. TJ’s path to NASA and his servant leadership have left an ongoing legacy for people at the agency. His general attitude, extreme competence, friendly demeanor, and genuine care for people around him continue to inspire me every day to become a great leader.
What is your favorite NASA memory?
My favorite NASA memory is being selected as a payload operations director on the International Space Station Payload Operations and Integration Center flight control team. I looked up to those in this position for 10 years and did everything I could to gather the skills and knowledge I needed to take on the role. I became responsible for the minute-to-minute operations of astronauts conducting science investigations on the space station. I vividly remember the joy I felt learning of the news of my assignment, taking my first shift, my first conversation with an astronaut in space, and the bittersweet decision to leave and continue my career goals at NASA in a different role.
Nick Kopp, right, behind a console in the International Space Station Payload Operations Integration Center at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center. What do you love sharing about station? What’s important to get across to general audiences to help them understand the benefits to life on Earth?
Although it takes place off the planet, research on the space station is conducted for people on Earth. The time and effort spent building, maintaining, and conducting science on the International Space Station is spent by people in our community and communities around the world to further humanity’s collective understanding of the universe around us. When we understand more about science, we can be more successful. So many people around the planet have had life-changing benefits from experiments that can only be done by people conducting research in microgravity, above the atmosphere, where you can view most of Earth.
If you could have dinner with any astronaut, past or present, who would it be?
I would have dinner with anyone from the Apollo 13 crew. I’d love to learn how they felt that NASA’s culture drove the outcome of that mission.
Do you have a favorite space-related memory or moment that stands out to you?
While working a night shift at the operations center in Huntsville, Alabama, we were monitoring payloads returning to Earth on a Dragon cargo spacecraft. We took a quick break outside the control center to watch as the spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere above us on its way to splash down off the coast of Florida. It was a clear night. As the spacecraft flew overhead, we saw the ablative heat shield create a shimmering trail of fire and sparkles that stretched across the whole night sky. It looked as though Tinker Bell just flew over us!
What are some of the key projects you’ve worked on during your time at NASA? What have been your favorite?
Some of my favorite projects I’ve worked on include:
Serving as the International Space Station Program’s representative as flight lead for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission Troubleshooting unexpected results when conducting science on the space station Writing instructions for astronauts filming a virtual reality documentary on the space station Assessing design changes on the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage Managing and training a team of flight controllers Helping NASA move Dragon spacecraft returns from Florida to California Nick Kopp enjoys sailing on his days off. What are your hobbies/things you enjoy outside of work?
I love playing board games with my wife, sailing, flying, traveling around the world, and learning about leadership and project management theory.
Day launch or night launch?
The Crew-8 night launch, specifically, where the Falcon 9 booster landed just above me!
Favorite space movie?
Spaceballs
NASA “worm” or “meatball” logo?
Meatball
Every day, we’re conducting exciting research aboard our orbiting laboratory that will help us explore further into space and bring benefits back to people on Earth. You can keep up with the latest news, videos, and pictures about space station science on the Station Research & Technology news page. It’s a curated hub of space station research digital media from Johnson and other centers and space agencies.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter to get the updates delivered directly to you.
Follow updates on social media at @ISS_Research on Twitter, and on the space station accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
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