Updated at 2:21 p.m., Friday, January 19, 2007
Astronaut back in Hawai'i to discuss 'killer asteroids'
Advertiser Staff
NASA astronaut Ed Lu is returning to his University of Hawai'i roots today for the first of two panel discussions he'll participate on over the next few days.Lu, a former UH astronomer and Punahou School wrestling coach, will participate in panel discussions titled "Killer Asteroids ... and what we can do about them" tonight in Hilo and again on Monday at the UH-Manoa.
Both presentations are open to the public.
Tonight's discussion takes place at the University of Hawai'i- Hilo, 200 W. Kawili St., University Classroom Building, Rm. 100. The discussion starts at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a brief question-and- answer session.
The same discussion will take place Monday at 6 p.m. at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2500 Campus Rd., Art Building Auditorium in Honolulu.
Lu will also make an appearance on on NBC affiliate KHNL's "The Morning Show" on Monday at 6:45 a.m.
Lu, a veteran of two space shuttle missions and a six-month stay at the International Space Station, will discuss his invention, the Gravity Tractor, that would use gravity to pull a dangerous asteroid out of a path that could threaten Earth.
Lu joined the the astronaut program in 1995. Prior to that he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Astronomy.
Born in Massachusetts, Lu says he considers Webster N.Y. and Honolulu his hometowns.
