Dr. Dante S. Lauretta is a professor of Planetary Science and Cosmochemistry at the University of Arizona. In today’s interview, the professor details the origins, trials, and achievements of his on-going work as the leader of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission.
But now we get in a time machine and go to February of 2004, a clear day in Arizona. Dante was an assistant professor at the time. He is looking forward to tenure, and his good friend and boss Mike Drake calls him on his mobile phone and says, “Come on over here to the Arizona Inn, and meet Steve Price from Lockheed.”
That day begins a journey that we're just now illustrating in his new book, The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System. So, who is Steve Price? Who was Mike Drake? And what did Dante learn that day?
An audio version of this interview is available below:
The Asteroid Hunter by Dante Lauretta on Amazon
Eye on the World with John Batchelor on YouTube
The John Batchelor Show on Apple Podcasts:
The Asteroid Hunter