EU-ESA Workshop on Meteor Observations for Planetary Defence

Session

Meteor and impact observations beyond Earth

4 Nov 2026, 09:00

Petralia Sottana, Sicily

28. The case for studying environmental effects of airbursts and impacts on other planetary bodies for planetary defence

Aleksandra Sokolowska (Imperial College London)

04/11/2026, 09:00

This talk presents a strategic vision for advancing knowledge about meteoroid airbursts and impacts across the Solar System. While observing such events on Earth could provide key insights into their damaging effects, their rare occurrence due to atmospheric blocking makes systematic study difficult – whereas the Moon and Mars prove to be promising planetary-scale impact and airburst...

30. MeteorCam for ESA’s LightShip-1 mission to Mars

Detlef Koschny (Space Exploration Institute, Neuchatel, CH / TU Munich, DE)

04/11/2026, 09:25

MeteorCam is an instrument to observe meteors and fireballs from the LightShip-1 spacecraft with a light-sensitive camera. LightShip-1 is currently studied by ESA as a possible future Mars mission. It will be in an orbit around Mars between 5000 and 6000 km in height, possibly with multiple spacecraft. There was a call for payload for instruments that would characterise the Mars environment,...

23. Open Discussions

04/11/2026, 09:50