We're a team of NASA meteor experts from the Marshall Center. Ask us anything!

Silly question: have any of you ever accidentally misread test results and for a split second thought you were dealing with an apocalypse scenario? :P

No, but that would sure make for an interesting day! (DM)

How useful are the minerals we can obtain from meteors or are they just as easily obtainable on earth?

Meteorites contain basically the same elements as found on Earth, just in different abundances. So it is easier to get them here on Earth than wait for them to come to us. Exceptions may be iridium, which is more abundant in meteorites than on Earth, so if you're constructing an inter-dimensional portal like in the movie "Thor," you may have a need for such. B.C.

What's a way that I, a typical guy in Los Angeles, can be more involved with NASA and space exploration?

There are numerous citizen science opportunities out there. Go to http://science.nasa.gov/citizen-scientists/ and see if there is anything that strikes your fancy. B.C.

What is the hardest part of your job?

Trying to predict the intensity or strength of meteor showers as this is important for astronauts to know if they go outside the space station on EVA. Have to get this right. B.C.

What are my chances of being killed by a meteor?

No one in recorded history has been killed by a meteorite, so I would say very small. A lady in Alabama was hit by a meteorite crashing through the roof of her bedroom in the 1950s. It bruised her side and she had to see her doctor, but no long term damage. B.C.

The public is always told when we have the meteors that are passing really close by Earth...should there be one that is on a collision course, are we going to be told abou that one, or would it cause too much chaos to tell us? What is the protocal for such an event?

The answer is yes. Should an asteroid be detected on a collision course, the public would be informed. As a matter of fact, you can see all known close approaches of asteroids by going to http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/ The protocol for such events is that NASA would inform the appropriate government agencies such as FEMA and the Dept. of Defense, who would coordinate a response. If time is short before an impact, that would probably consist of evacuating the area. B.C.

Even if it were an Earth-killer size?

There are no objects that big of which we are currently aware. I sincerely doubt we would have to face this scenario. B.C.

What's the largest object that could possible come anywhere near us?

An object a few tens of kilometers across - won't destroy the planet, but would make it very uncomfortable for life for a few decades. Mass extinction and all that stuff. B.C.

What motivated you all to put your efforts toward meteors?

Also, you guys have awesome jobs.

Yes, we do have an awesome job. I always found the idea of rocks falling from the skies fascinating, so I decided to pursue that when I came to NASA. Who can resist the idea of playing Chicken Little. B.C.

Meteors are something that I can observe with my own eyes. That makes them more real to me (and more understandable) than other fields in astronomy. And despite seeing a lot of meteors, I still feel a sense of awe and wonder when I see another. It's that sort of continuing excitement that makes this an awesome job!

It doesn't hurt that I'm a night owl! (DM)

Have you found any precious or new elements at a meteor impact site?

Nope. Pretty mundane stuff. No platinum, no gold, though from the prices meteorites command on eBay, you'd think they were made of this stuff. B.C.

What did "Gravity" get wrong in regards to how objects orbit and move in space? Specifically in regards to re-entry?

"Gravity" had a the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, the Russian space station, which no longer exists, and a Chinese space station, fairly close to each other in space. This is very wrong. But I go to movies to be entertained, not to evaluate their scientific accuracy. Star Wars would be very boring without sound accompanying all the explosions. B.C.

I've heard that some people think microorganisms like tardigrades came to earth on meteorites. If so, how would one of those rocks get off a planet and into space to carry it somewhere?

A possibility -- There would have to be an energetic enough collision between the planet and a minor body to eject some debris. After that the debris would be affected by gravity from the Sun & other planets, radiation pressure, P-R drag, etc. which would change its orbit and place it on an intercept course with another planet. (DM)

What dangers, if any, do meteors pose to things like space stations and satellites? Thanks for doing this, keep up the good work!

The Space Station has armor so it is protected against meteors.

Meteors do post a risk to spacecraft, but one of the products of the Meteoroid Environment Office (us!) are models that predict that risk - how many meteors of various sizes and speeds a spacecraft may encounter on its mission. That helps them decide how much shielding to put on their spacecraft to minimize that risk.

And thanks! We enjoy it.

Is there anything classified about your work?

If we told you we'd have to kill you. ;-) (DM)

Lets say an Asteroid as big as the one in the movie "Armageddon" is on a collision course with Earth.

How do you guys plan to stop it?

Call Bruce Willis. :-)

Seriously, it all depends on the amount of time before the collision. If we have decades or longer, we can try using the gravity of a massive space ship to gently tug the asteroid off course or paint one side of it a reflective color so that the difference in heat radiation off the asteroid will change its trajectory. If we don't have a long time, we may have to resort to the movies favorite planetary defense scheme, i.e. nuclear weapons. B.C.

If a meteor were to fall in the ocean or a body of water, how large does it need to be to create a coastal flooding/tsunami event?

The Earth's atmosphere breaks up most meteors, so it would take a meteor about 300 meters across. This size of meteor hits the Earth about every 100,000-300,000 years (that is an estimate!) so it is highly unlikely. -RB

Did you have any more details about the large fireball that was seen over the eastern U.S. on February 27th?

I'm not sure what you know already so I'll just summarize. The American Meteor Society received 290 witness reports about a fireball seen on Feb 27 around 19:10 EST (Feb 28 00:10 UTC) from Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington DC, and North and South Carolina. It was also featured on CNN. The fireball was detected at EXTREME range (hundreds of kilometers) by two NASA all sky meteor cameras located in Brevard, North Carolina and Hiram, Ohio. Because of this range a trajectory is difficult to determine. Our cameras first detected it on February 27 at 7:07:58 PM EST at an altitude of 80 km above the town of Montebello, Virginia, moving SW towards Roanoke with a speed of around 15 km/s (33,500 mph). Our cameras lost track of the meteor around an altitude of 68 km as it disappeared below the horizon, though it undoubtedly penetrated lower in the atmosphere. Magnitude was approximately -8.5, which is brighter than the crescent Moon. Taking into account the speed, we are dealing with an object having a diameter of about 1 foot (30 cm) and a mass in the vicinity of 50 lbs (23 kg). (DM)

Greetings Dr. Bill Cooke, Mesdames Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw! I have 10 questions to ask curiously:

1. What caused the breaking up of Asteroid P/2013 R3? What is it made of? And will it not threaten earth?
2. What is the present condition of the comet Shoemaker Levy 9 impact zone on Jupiter? Will JUNO image this site?
3. Why is Europa chosen as the next destination for comprehensive exploration instead of Ganymed, Callisto, Io or Titan?
4. Will New Horizons encounter meteor risk during its travel to Pluto and the kuiper belt?
5. How many impacts on the lunar surface had been imaged?
6. Is there an explanation why Russia seems to be the destination of recent major meteor like Tunguska and Chelyabinsk?
7. Is it confirmed that ISON is gone or are there still remnants?
8. Will MRO, Odyssey, Mars Express, MAMEN or MOM be impacted by Comet Siding Spring c/2003A1?
9. What NASA Mission inspires you most today?
10. What future missions would you like NASA to pursue?

Thank you for having this IAMA

Going to take a couple of your questions... 5) We have seen over 300 impacts from meteoroids on the lunar surface. 6) Because of how big it is! Another popular place for large meteors to occur is over the ocean because... well... it is about 2/3 of the surface of Earth. 8) It is possible, and The Meteoroid Environment Office has done work to try to predict this risk but it is hard to say definitely if and which spacecraft will be affected. However, the risk has been decreasing as time has gone by and we have been able to get more accurate understanding of the dust production of comet Siding Spring. It is currently a factor of 20 less than the original calculated risk.

-RB

Concerning the the product of good meteors--Meteorites.

Last week in the journal Astrobiology was published "Putative Indigenous Carbon-Bearing Alteration Features in Martian Meteorite Yamato 000593"

With the last sentence of the study concluding: "...textural and compositional similarities to features in terrestrial samples, which have been interpreted as biogenic, imply the intriguing possibility that the martian features were formed by biotic activity"

Question: Are you intrigued? And just personally, if you were forced to give a probability to this possibility, how would you place the likelihood of a biogenic vs abiogenic origin to these features in Yamato, Nakhla, etc.?

1. Mars and Earth are not isolated systems; they have been exchanging rocks since their formation. If we find evidence of life on Mars, the question of whether or not it originated there or came from Earth would have to be asked. I sometimes wonder the reverse, i.e. are certain people on this planet from Mars. :-)
2. The article also said possibility of formation by biotic activity. This is by no means conclusive, it just suggests this is one possible explanation. B.C.

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In theory, such a thing can be done, but I don't think this is a practicable weapon at least for the next few centuries. By that time, we will probably have phaser banks and photon torpedos. B.C.

Have you ever found something our of the ordinary on a meteor? (undiscovered elements, fossils, etc). Ps. I think its awesome that you work with NASA, I absolutely love outerspace!

Nope, we have not found any unusual elements in meteorites. I am very disappointed; my comic book studies indicated I should find Kryptonite in a few. :-) B.C.

In your opinion, what happened at Tunguska?

Large meteor (could be considered asteroid) exploded several miles above the Earth's surface, blowing over millions of trees. If you google some of the reports of Tunguska they are pretty crazy! -RB

Which are better for getting to know the meteors? The telescopes (on earth / in space) or the radar-like scanners?

Which is your "Oh that's something extraordinary!" moment?

The Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) uses telescopes, cameras, and radars all to detect meteors. There are benefits to each. Radars are great because the forward-scatter radar that the MEO uses sees a huge area of the sky resulting in over 10,000 meteor detections every 24 hours. So we get a lot of data from there. Radar also sees the very smallest meteors (sub-millimeter). Cameras are great for millimeter-sized meteors and centimeter-sized meteors. And telescopes are used to observe meteors hitting the moon which are from meteors several centimeters across. So to say which one is 'better' is hard as we need to observe meteors in all those size-regimes. I'm personally partial to radars as I worked with radar data for my MSc thesis. :-)

My ''wow!" moment in my career was the Chelyabinsk meteor in Russia last February. So crazy! Loved getting to work on that event. -RB

Have space missions/people ever been cancelled or returned to earth early because of anticipated meteor showers?

In 1993 the Perseids delayed a Shuttle launch.

The Meteoroid Environment Office generates forecasts for meteor showers to give to the International Space Station which helps them determine when to do EVAs.

-RB

What inspired you to go into a field of math & science, and why specifically meteors?

I found physics challenging and thought math was a great puzzle so I knew that's what I wanted to do. I also wanted my work to have applications, so engineering was a good fit too. I kindof fell into meteors through various Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) opportunities while in school. I really liked the fact that meteors were something I could see in our atmosphere -- much more tangible than other areas of astronomy. I'm also a trekkie/trekker at heart. (DM)

I grew up loving astronomy and decided to study what I was already passionate about. As for meteors specifically, I had a research opportunity after my 3rd year of undergrad to work with meteor radars, and I found I really enjoyed such an applied area of study. I like things that have very practical applications and studying meteors is a very interesting combination of science and engineering (we study meteors because of the danger they pose to spacecraft). I continued on with meteors after undergrad, doing MSc thesis in meteor physics. -RB (Rhiannon Blaauw)

Here's the tremendously vague but obligatory question we have to ask all NASA scientists who do AMAs.

What blows your mind the most about space in general? Anything that pops into your head is a suitable answer. Thanks for coming out!

The endless opportunities for exploration. I grew up with Star Trek - the old series - and am a firm believer in humanity exploring the stars. B.C.

With more and more stuff getting launched every day into space is it getting harder or easier to track and model potential collisions with meteors?

If you're referring to asteroids, no, those encounters are rare. If you are referring to meteors, which are the small rocks, we can't pick them up until they hit the atmosphere and leave an ionization trail or the streak of light you call a "shooting star." So we can track asteroids and orbital debris, "space junk," in space, but because meteors have a weak radar cross-section, they have to burn up in the atmosphere, before we can track them. B.C.

Do you work with Les Johnson? I've had the privilege of meeting and chatting with him in New York a few years back...

I know Les --- he does fun stuff, but he works in another group, so I don't see him very often. B.C.

As a college student in aerospace engineering, I've been working towards working at NASA for a very long time. I did interview once but did not get the job. What could a student do to make him/her stand out?

Get as much experience related to the area you want to study. Even if that is volunteering to work for a professor who does related research. Also NASA has a great internship program to get your foot in the door. nasajobs.nasa.gov

Good luck! -RB

Okay this isn't really about meteors, but in the movie Gravity, Russia uses a missile to destroy one of their satellites, and the debris from this explosion starts a "chain reaction" blowing up other satellites, which then takes out the ISS, the space shuttle, and a Chinese space station.

THEN, the debris continues in the same orbit, going much faster than the ISS, goes all the way around the earth and ends up hitting the ISS again, 3 consecutive times.

So, first of all, how likely is it that any debris from any satellite could hit any other satellite? I understand the earth is very large. Is there any chance debris could ever cause a "chain reaction"? How would this compare to, say, a comet trail?

Secondly, if there was debris in the same orbit as the ISS, but going thousands of km/h faster, is there any chance it would meet the same object when it came around again?

Any explosive event in Earth orbit generates fragments. If this event occurs in a region where there is a concentration of satellite orbits like sun-synchronous altitudes, the fragments could collide with satellites in those orbits and create more fragments, sort of like in a chain reaction. However, it would only affect satellites in those orbits and would not be quick like in "Gravity." The collisions would occur over many years, not just in a few hours. As far as your second question, it depends on the nature of the debris; if it is strongly affected by atmospheric drag, it's trajectory will be changed enough that it will not pass near the ISS or some other object it previously encountered. B.C.

Any updates on the Apophis asteroid?

Not recently, but it is definitely going to miss us. B.C.

Which showers do you enjoy observing the most?

Perseids would be my favorite because they are in August so it is usually warm enough throughout the night to really enjoy being outside. Plus the rates are great (up to 100 if you are in a very dark place). The Geminids are also nice to observe but since they are in December it is a little less enjoyable to be outside at 3 am. :-) -RB

My 9yo daughter is an aspiring NASA rocket scientist. What resources would you recommend (websites, books, games, toys?) to further her interest in space?

NASA has some good stuff at http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/

I also find "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth" at http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ inspiring. (DM)

What is it like working with NASA?

Most days, a lot of fun. I like coming into the office and seeing where fireballs occurred the night before. We also have had a lot of snow days with the crazy weather lately, which helps me get some reading done. Seriously, NASA is a great place to work and I can't imagine doing anything else. B.C.

If humans eventually live on Mars, how would asteroids affect living on Mars?

Mars has a thinner atmosphere, so smaller asteroids can make it to the ground, which means the odds of a Martian colony being hit by one are greater than that of a similar size settlement on Earth. B.C.

How long we got before being wiped out by a meteor?

There are currently no large asteroids (greater than a mile across) projected to strike Earth for the next few centuries. Have fun for a long time to come. B.C.

Hey guys! Thanks for the AMA! What are your favourite bands/musicians? Which is better, Star Wars or Star Trek? Thanks again guys?

Star Wars! As for bands... I am currently I am into the Head and the Heart. -RB (Rhiannon Blaauw)

I <3 Jonathan Coulton! Since we are on a space theme, check out his song "I'm Your Moon".

Star Trek! STTNG best! (DM)

What do you get at the On-On truck outside?

Pork nachos. ;-) Are you the owner? -RB

So, um, what do you guys do for fun on the weekends?

Build rockets, play World of Warcraft, watch bad science fiction on MeTV. B.C.

Anyone playing KSP? Or would that feel too much like work?

I know this is gonna make me sound really uncool, but I just had to look KSP up. :-/ (DM)

I just got a mountain bike -- I'm waiting for nicer weather to hit the trails. In the meantime I read a lot and play board games. (DM)

Tennis is my current new hobby. It is such a great sport!

-RB

Is Bruce Willis still on staff?

I wish! ;-) (DM)

Who are the smartest people at NASA? I realize NASA is huge and in many spots but am curious if the smartest are the designers or if that is mostly outside design or the astronauts, you guys, etc.

Bill Cooke, the Meteoroid Environment Office lead, of course! :-) Bill is a very very smart guy, but I would honestly say that in my time at NASA I have learned that there are so many different kinds of 'smart'. Some people are better at theoretical work, some people better at application, some people better at hands-on, some people better at detail-work, some at being able to grasp the big-picture. I know this is a very politically-correct answer, but I honestly feel it is true. I think our team (the MEO) has a really good combination of people right now. Makes for a great working environment.

As for astronauts - yes, the astronauts that I have met or heard speak here are all brilliant.

-RB

Hi! Thank you all for doing this ama! I am a 17 year old boy in Norway, really hoping for a career in astronomy. I just want to know if you have any tips on what to do when it comes to education, university etc. And what education did you take?

EDIT: grammar

You are welcome! :-) Thanks for joining us! I did my undergraduate degree in Astrophysics and my Masters in Astronomy. I work with aerospace engineers and physicists as well. Any of those majors would be good. Good luck! -RB

Any tips for an engineering student in college who wants to intern at NASA?

StellarSloth has posted some good intern sites. From my experience, it's good to first get some work experience at your university. It makes you a stronger candidate when NASA mentors choose their interns. (DM)

How large does a meteor have to be to do any significant damage were it to hit the earth? Is there a minimum size or is it more about speed?

It depends on what you mean by 'significant damage'. The Earth's atmosphere breaks up most meteors smaller than a football field. Take Chelyabinsk, for example, it exploded before impacting the Earth. It was about the size of a 3 story building but and only pieces made it to the ground. Still, the explosion did damage - many windows broken and many people injured in Chelyabinsk. Thankfully no reported deaths. Something larger than a football field would likely impact the Earth and create even more destruction.

-RB

What path did you take during and after high school to get to where you are today?

In highschool I took a couple astronomy courses - one at a community college and one online. Then in University I tried to get as much research experience as possible. I worked for a professor for a couple summers and then did my Masters under her (Dr. Margaret Campbell-Brown) and she taught me a lot about meteor science. -RB

Where are the best places on earth to see meteor showers?

Somewhere with excellent weather (clear skies) and very very dark skies! And seeing as much of the sky as possible is good - so no obstructions by trees, buildings, etc. Probably a dessert would be ideal. :-) Oh and if you have a new Moon that is ideal. A bright Moon washes out the dimmer meteors. My most favorite meteor shower watching experience was in a field in the middle-of-nowhere Ontario watching the Perseids several years ago. :-)

-RB

Which is currently a bigger threat to satellites/spacecraft meteors or space junk? If it's meteors do you think that will change over time as the amount of space junk increases?

It depends on the vehicle, but orbital debris is currently a bit bigger threat than meteors - for space shuttle, orbital debris was 60% of the risk. -RB

In the recent Bill Nye & Ken Ham debate on creationism, Mr. Ham stated that the age of the Earth was not determined based on any sample from Earth, but using data from nearby asteroids. Is this true? Can you elaborate on this?

Mr. Ham is wrong. We have radioactively dated Earth rocks and those were definitely not from asteroids. B.C.

How are fireball sighting collected, is there a database or web-service that has this info? And, when they are sighted does anyone investigate to search for any debris that may have survived entry?

Thanks!!

The American Meteor Society collects fireball reports from all over the world. Making a report is pretty easy. http://amsmeteors.org/ go to 'Fireballs' then 'Report a Fireball'. They also have a searchable database. I check it weekly as one way to stay aware of what's going on over our skies. NASA also has a website where we post fireballs seen with the NASA All Sky Fireball Network at fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov -- it's got images, movies, and info about fireballs seen by our network of 12 cameras. Meteorite hunters and others can use this information to investigate any possible meteorites. Since our group is mainly interested in meteors and meteoroids, we rarely hunt for meteorites ourselves. Last meteorite hunt we did was exciting, but I ended up breaking out in hives. ;-) (DM)

Thanks for all the Info. Do you guys work with the NEO JPL Team as far as any data sets or collaboration? Just curious.

Also, Awesome work. Space rocks! (yes, i had to say that) :)

We collaborate with the NEO office at JPL with regard to fireballs, which are brighter meteors caused by meteoroids larger than a foot or so in diameter. The line between asteroid and meteoroid is fuzzy so we work together a lot. B.C.

Have any spacecraft been sent towards the asteroid belt to study the meteoroids/asteroids in that area? Are there any plans to do that if not?

Spacecraft have passed through the asteroid belt --- Voyager, Pioneer, New Horizons and so forth. The Dawn mission is there right now, studying the asteroids Ceres and Vesta. So, yes, we are studying the asteroid belt. B.C.

What is the speed of meteors that enter the earth atmosphere? At what altitude do they start to heat up and how many make it all the way to the ground a day? How hot do they get on entry into the atmosphere? Thanks for doing this AMA!!

Meteors travel fast, 25,000 - 160,000 mph! A Perseid traveling 132,000 mph travels almost 100 times faster than the Concorde jet. They start burning up quite high in the atmosphere typically around 90-100 km. Very few make it to the ground, they burn up completely by heights of 60-80 km. They reach temps of several thousand degrees Kelvin. (DM)

If a 1km rock were to hit the Pacific, how big would the wave be?

(I live on the West Coast)

Don't know about a 1 km asteroid, but a 250 meter diameter asteroid would produce a tidal wave about ten meters high if it struck off the West Coast. B.C.

Anyone a fan of the show Meteorite Men? Or would it be like Pavoratti watching drunken Karaoke at my local bar?

I liked the show and actually met one of the stars. He gave a fascinating talk and was a very interesting person. I would certainly like to go meteorite hunting with him. B.C.

As someone who is very interested in space exploration, astronomy, and things of the sort but who is not very mathematical savey, what sort of career involving astronomy would you suggest for me?

Unfortunately, professional astronomers need to know a lot of math, which is one reason why many people don't become astronomers. However, a lot of good work - measuring asteroid light curves, looking for novae (exploding stars) and comets, and so forth - is done by amateurs who don't know a lot of math. All you have to have is a decent-sized scope and some software you can download off the Internet. B.C.

sorry if repost; if this asteroid came at the earth point blank, is it possible for it to reach the earths surface and with what results? in your opinion...

If the asteroid is bigger than a football field in diameter, it has a chance of reaching the Earth's surface intact. The consequences of such a collision would depend on the size of the asteroid, but a crater would be produced anywhere between five to ten times the size of the asteroid. Shock waves would propagate out tens or hundreds of miles. Trees or houses nearby would be blown down, etc. B.C.

Would you ever like to go into space? and also is there anyway for us ordinary people to get involved?

No, I'm afraid of heights. As far as your second question, if you are talking about becoming an astronaut, you might want to contact Richard Branson at Virgin Galactic. There are sub-orbital flight opportunites opening up for those with money and more guts than I. B.C.

Could a meteor passing close to Earth have any gravitational effects strong enough to divert satellites or space stations from their orbits?

Meteoroids are very small, less than ten meters across, so the answer is no as far as meteoroids are concerned. I think you are referring to asteroids and even there, their gravity is very weak and would not affect satellites unless it passed extremely close. B.C.

What countries are most responsible for orbital debris? percentage wise... like USA 22% - China 55% - USSR/Russia 18%, etc Or are the numbers not really known. It seems like this problem is going to get bigger before it gets smaller.

I am not an orbital debris person, but I do know that the USSR/Russia and the U.S. are the top two. China is coming on strong though with its recent anti-satellite tests. B.C.

What is the current on the NASA moon missions? Are we going to get the funding to go back anytime soon?

NASA currently has no plans to return astronauts to the Moon in the near future. B.C.

When should the next Meteor Come near us?

If you are referring to an asteroid, go to http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/ That will give you a list of coming asteroid close approaches. B.C.

How does the moon affect Meteors?

Its gravity slightly alters the trajectory of objects passing near it. B.C.

Yeah crap. I'm always late to the party. If you're still here though, I'd like to know how you work. Do you sit in front of desks all day long like the conventional office, or do you have more fun than that? Also, I'd like to know if I can help with your initiatives in any way as a citizen scientist. I'd be perfectly happy to do something like running SETI@home. Also, here's another one, for me personally. If I have the knowledge, is a college degree still required to work for NASA? Its my childhood dream.

A lot of our work invovles analyzing data from a desk in a conventional office. But we also observe at our local observatory and control observatories remotely. Occasionally we will deploy teams to collect meteor data with special cameras/equipment, e.g. for the Genesis spacecraft re-entry and the May Camelopardalids. A few times I've gotten to do some hands on work in the lab, inspecting returned spacecraft surfaces from Hubble and the Space Shuttle. (Waaay cool btw!)

Regarding citizen science, check out the Meteor Counter app for recording meteors during meteor showers. Also you can look into observing the moon for lunar impacts to support LADEE.

A college degree is a good idea... (DM)

I know meteor showers have good years and bad years. What is an upcoming meteor shower that has a good chance of wowing watchers?

There's a brand new meteor shower expected this year -- the May Camelopardalids (that's a mouthful!). It's expected to peak on May 24, 2014 with a rate of 200 meteors per hour (possibly more). But since it's a new shower, never seen before, all of this is very uncertain. (DM)

What is NASA's dress code? Does NASA have events for its employees?

What is NASA's biggest area of focus with meteors right now?

No pajamas, hahaha. But seriously, there's a huge range. In our office it's business casual, though some lean more towards the causal end of that cough Bill cough. :-)

As far as events go, I look forward to when astronauts visit Marshall after a mission. We also take the time to remember both our successes (many!) and failures (Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia).

We are focused on defining the meteoroid environment -- numbers of meteoroids, how big, how fast, etc. (DM)

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Meteors hit the Earth everyday. That is what we study. :-) A comet has never hit the Earth but one of the projects we do at the MEO is to image comets and analyze them to study their dust production.

-RB