# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Virtual - The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System
- **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 07 Apr, 2026 at 11:00 pm – Wed, 08 Apr, 2026 at 12:00 am (+00:00)
- **Event Description**: On September 11, 1999, scientists identified an asteroid that would soon reshape our understanding of the early solar system and perhaps the origins of life itself. Named Bennu, this ancient, carbon-rich world rises higher than the Empire State Building and stretches nearly the length of five and a half American football fields. More than a celestial curiosity, Bennu is a pristine archive of the organic chemistry and volatile materials that circulated as planets were forming.

In his new memoir, The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System, planetary scientist Dr. Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, pulls back the curtain on the daring, high-stakes effort to rendezvous with Bennu and return a sample to Earth. With that sample in hand, Dr. Lauretta and his team are now investigating the asteroid’s physical and chemical properties, refining assessments of its long-term impact risk, evaluating its resource potential, and probing the molecular and isotopic clues that link small bodies to the emergence of habitable worlds.

Join us for an in-depth conversation with Dr. Lauretta, moderated by Monica Young, News Editor at Sky & Telescope. A Q&A will follow.


For additional details and to register for this event, please visit https://tinyurl.com/apl-lauretta.


This program is hosted by the Cary Library in Lexington, is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library (www.friendsoftheapl.org) and is in partnership with a multitude of MA Libraries.


Sign up for our Ashland Public Library Newsletters! http://tinyurl.com/apl-newsletters
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/ashland-massachusetts/virtual-the-asteroid-hunter-a-scientist’s-journey-to-the-dawn-of-our-solar-system/200029904273549
- **Event Categories**: Sports
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 0

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Ashland, Massachusetts
- **location**: Online event
- **full address**: Online event, 66 Front St, Ashland, MA 01721-1647, United States, Ashland, Massachusetts

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: Virtual - The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/0e4babe8f1bdbd59d2666a46d29e194e4271b1d76052d9619bafaabd714ffc79-rimg-w1200-h676-dc030206-gmir?v=1775554428

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is Virtual - The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System being held?
  - **A:** Virtual - The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System takes place on Tue, 07 Apr, 2026 at 11:00 pm to Wed, 08 Apr, 2026 at 12:00 am at Online event, 66 Front St, Ashland, MA 01721-1647, United States, Ashland, Massachusetts.
- **Q**: Who is organizing Virtual - The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System?
  - **A:** Virtual - The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist’s Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System is organized by Ashland Public Library.

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