NASA Busts Out Some Tabletop Gaming for Asteroid Exercise | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.14.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.16.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.17.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Tue, Jun 25, 2024

NASA Busts Out Some Tabletop Gaming for Asteroid Exercise

5th Exercise Assesses Readiness Against Orbital Threats

NASA got the "planetary defense community" together for a good ol' game of '5th Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise', playing out their responses to a prospective celestial impact. 

IN reality the word "tabletop" belies a level of fun NASA folks probably did not have, but the exercise did let everyone game out exactly how their agencies would work together in case of asteroid impact. The exercise takes place on a biennial basis, bringing together the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the U.S. Department of State Office of Space Affairs as they assess how well the country would fare under threat of a potentially hazardous asteroid or comet. The administration stressed that there are currently "no known significant asteroid impact threats for the foreseeable future" but it never hurts to dust off the books and game it out. They didn't just try to plan for apocalyptic impacts, either, but smaller bodies that would cause minor regional damage with less forewarning.

The exercise considered the response to a novel asteroid given 72% chance of striking true in 14 years, with gamers having to deal with problems like assessments, studies, and trajectory planning as the hypothetical body passed behind the Sun. The exercise made use of fresh data from the recent DART mission, a test that bore out whether the world could snipe incoming space debris with suitably kinetic operations.

“The uncertainties in these initial conditions for the exercise allowed participants to consider a particularly challenging set of circumstances,” said Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer emeritus NASA Headquarters in Washington. “A large asteroid impact is potentially the only natural disaster humanity has the technology to predict years in advance and take action to prevent.”

“Our mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters,” added Leviticus “L.A.” Lewis, FEMA detailee to NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. “We work across the country every day before disasters happen to help people and communities understand and prepare for possible risks. In the event of a potential asteroid impact, FEMA would be a leading player in interagency coordination.” 

“These outcomes will help to shape future exercises and studies to ensure NASA and other government agencies continue improving planetary defense preparedness,” said Johnson.

FMI: www.nasa.gov

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.15.25): Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach

Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach An approach conducted while operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan which authorizes the pilot of an aircraft to proceed >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (07.15.25)

“When l became the Secretary of Defense, I committed to rebuild our military to match threats to capabilities. Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.15.25)

Aero Linx: Stearman Restorers Association Welcome to the Stearman Restorers Association. The Stearman Restorers Association is an independent “Not for Profit” 501C-3 Co>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Kjelsrud Gary Kitfox

Airplane Exhibited A Partial Loss Of Engine Power When It Was About Halfway Down The Runway Analysis: The pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane was departing from his pr>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Cessna A150L

The Flight Path Was Consistent With Low-Altitude Maneuvering On June 18, 2025, about 0922 mountain standard time, a Cessna A150L airplane, N6436F, was substantially damaged when it>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC