Chris Lewicki of Planetary Resources: Mining Asteroids For Fun and Profit

We start with a bang...the one caused by the meteor that exploded over Russia.  While many people fear asteroids, a growing number see potential profit.  We talk with the President and Chief Asteroid Miner for Planetary Resources, Chris Lewicki. The former JPL Flight Director leads his new company's effort to create robotic spacecraft that will find, capture and deliver asteroids to its space-resource hungry customers.  Emily Lakdawalla and Mat Kaplan compare notes on last week's flyby of 2012 DA14 and the window-shattering airburst hours before. What's Up is on TV!  It's your chance to actually see Bruce and Mat do their thing.  NOTE THE LINK TO THE NEW WHAT'S UP! CONTEST ENTRY FORM BELOW.

Related Links

• WEBCAST: Live Coverage of Asteroid Flyby and Russian Meteor, Featuring Bruce Betts and Bill Nye--Now Available On Demand
• BLOG: Meteor Fall Causes Damage in Russia
• Bruce Betts' Online Intro to Astronomy Class 2, Featuring What's Up With Mat Kaplan
• BLOG: Bruce Betts' Guide to Asteroid 2012 DA14 Super Close Approach
• BLOG: The Sky Was Falling! Airburst Over Russia and Flyby of Asteroid 2012 DA14

Trivia Contest

This week's prize is a SMBC Revenge of the Dinosaurs T-Shirt!

This week's question:
What is the largest refracting telescope ever used for research?  (Not the largest refractor ever!)

To submit your answer:
Complete the contest entry form at http:planetary.org/radiocontest no later than Monday, February 25, at 2pm Pacific Time.

Last week's question:
According to La Sagra Observatory's Jaime Nomen, where was the discoverer of 2012 DA14 when the discovery was made?

Answer:
The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the week before:
In Earth years, how long is a Sedna year?

Answer:
Roughly 11,400 years!