Philip M. Lubin plenary: DE-STAR: A Planetary Defense and Exploration System

Asteroids and comets that cross Earth's orbit could have severe consequences to our planet and its inhabitants if they impact the Earth. Most of the strategies proposed for dealing with these potential hazards entail dedicated missions to eradicate each object. One of those missions includes the Directed Energy Solar Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation (DE-STAR), a solar-powered, modular-phased array of lasers designed to heat the surface of possibly threatening objects to the point of evaporation.

In his plenary talk, "DE-STAR: A Planetary Defense and Exploration System," Philip M. Lubin of the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA), discusses this orbital planetary defense system that could ward off potentially dangerous objects in space.

Philip Lubin is a professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara whose primary research has been focused on studies of the early universe in the millimeter wavelengths bands. His group has designed, developed and fielded more than two dozen ground based and balloon borne missions and helped develop two major cosmology satellites.