Scientists across the globe are scrambling to learn more about the behavior and composition of asteroids. Peering into the borderlands of space, they ask: What can we learn from these flying rocks? Can we stop one from hitting Earth? Can we mine them for precious resources?
At Washington State University, School of the Environment Professors Franklin Foit, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Jeffrey Vervoort and Department of Physics and Astronomy Associate Professor Guy Worthey are taking part in the effort, using meteorites to calculate the age of our planet, question how life first arrived on Earth, and propose that asteroids might one day help us find a new home in the galaxy.