Meteor Showers
Meteor shower survey
CAMS
Small aircraft missions
2016 Cygnus OA6
2015 WT1190F
2014 Camelopardalids
2008 Quadrantid MAC
2007 Ursid MAC
2007 Aurigid MAC
Leonid MAC
2002 Leonid MAC
2001 Leonid MAC
2000 Leonid MAC
1999 Leonid MAC
1998 Leonid MAC
Re-entries
2009 Shuttle external tank
ATV Disruptive Reentry
2015 ATV-5 "G. Lemaitre"
2008 ATV-1 "Jules Verne"
Hyperseed MAC
2010 Hayabusa reentry
2006 Stardust MAC
2004 Genesis MAC
Meteorite Falls
Meteorite fall survey
CA/NV Fireball Network
Case studies
2018 Impact of 2018 LA
2016 Dishchii'bikoh
2015 Creston
2015 Saricicek
2013 Chelyabinsk airburst
2012 Novato
2012 Sutter's Mill
2008 Impact of 2008 TC3
1992 Mbale meteorite shower
1990 Glanerbrug fall
1895 Fall on Misfits Flat
1873 Fall at Diepenveen
Facilities
SOFIA SURF (workshop)
2004 SURF workshop
ASIMA (satellite mission proposed)
2008 Asteroid Impact Analyzer
Books, reports, and journal special issues:
Sutter's Mill:
2014 Nov. issue
ATV + Hayabusa Entry:
(in preparation)
2008 TC3:
2010 Oct./Nov. issue
Stardust SRC Entry:
2010 Vol. 47, number 5 and 6
SOFIA S.U.R.F.:
2002 Leonid MAC:
790 p. monograph
2001 Leonid MAC:
1999 Leonid MAC:
1998 Leonid MAC:
Dr. Peter Jenniskens,
Principal Investigator
[Career pages]
Dr. Peter Jenniskens has been a proud mentor to the following students and interns:
NASA Frontier Development Lab:
Robert Citron - 2016 [FDL, UC Berkeley] 
Amar Shah - 2016 [FDL, Cambridge University] 
Shravanthi Sinha - 2016 [FDL, Holbrook School] 
Christopher Watkins - 2016 [FDL, Monash University]
Students NASA Ames Exploration Academy:
Cooper Matthieson - 2014 [CAMS in Space, Columbia University] 
Quentin Nenon - 2013 [CAMS, at ISAE/CNES, France] 
Anthony Berdeu - 2012 [CAMS, at ISAE/CNES, France] 
Jon Reijneveld - 2011 [Draconid MAC, at Technical University of Delft, Netherlands, now with Astrium]
Kevin Newman - 2010 [CAMS, now at NASA Ames]
Heather Duckworth - 2009 [CAMS, now at Caltech, CA]
Michael Borden - 2008 [ATV MAC, now at JPL]
Rick Conrey - 2007 [Aurigid MAC, now at Velodyne Acoustics, Inc.]
Students NASA Ames Astrobiology Academy:
Monica C. Byrne - 2002 [Now PhD student at MIT, geobiology] 
Emily Schaller - 2001 [2001 and 2002 Leonid MAC, now at NASA Armstrong] 
Avi Mandell - 2000 [2001 Leonid MAC, now NASA civil servant at GSFC] 
Matt Lacey - 1999 [1999 Leonid MAC, now aerospace engineer at KSFC]
Students SETI Institute Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates program:
Melissa Hannan - 2015 [CAMSS, Cal State San Bernardino] 
Andy Crump - 2014 [CAMS, Principia College] 
Bethany Kelley - 2014 [CAMS, at Univ. Maryland] 
Beth Johnson - 2013 [CAMS, at San Jose State University] 
Kathryn Steakley - 2012 [CAMS, at Washington University, Seattle] 
Meridel Phillips - 2011 [CAMS, currently at Univ Rochester, NY ]
Erin Leidy - 2010 [Hayabusa MAC, currently at MIT]
Steffi Valkov - 2010 [CAMS, currently at Pomona State University, CA]
Lisa Genovese - 2009 [CAMS, at Grand Valley State University ]
Claire Webb - 2008 [ATV MAC, at Vassar College] 
Kat de Kleer - 2007 [Aurigid MAC, at MIT, now doing PhD at UC Berkeley]
Jason Merritt - 2006 [Now at University of Arizona, College of Optical Sciences]
Research Intern:
Post doc:
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Mission statement
Create research opportunities in airborne astronomy, especially for the study of natural and artificial meteors and meteor showers. Involve the public in missions of exploration.
Science themes:
- How do comets and their meteor showers originate and evolve?
- What role did meteoric matter play in the prebiotic evolution of life?
- What comets can threaten life on Earth?
- When do spacecraft need protection from meteoroid impacts?
- What are the physical conditions during the re-entry of spacecraft?
- At what altitude do asteroids break up in the atmosphere and create airbursts?
- Where do our meteorites originate in the asteroid belt?
Impact and recovery of 2018 LA
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2018Rapid response enabled the recovery of meteorites from the impact of the second asteroid to be discovered prior to impacting the Earth.
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ADELIE
Website
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2016
Development of a drone into an Airborne DEep Learning Imaging Explorer (ADELIE).
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Cygnus OA6 reentry
Website
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2016
Shallow re-entry of Cygnus OA6 "S.S. Rick Husband", optical imaging and spectroscopic support fro Re-Entry Breakup Recorder - Wireless deployment.
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Legacy video
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WT1190F debris reentry
Website
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2015
Re-entry of an unknown space debris object on an asteroid-like orbit (possibly the Trans Lunar Injection Stage of Lunar Prospector) as practice for a future asteroid impact mission.
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Legacy video
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Camelopardalids outburst
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Website
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2014
Study of weakly-active comet 209P/LINEAR dust ejecta, when Earth is expected to meet a pile-up of centuries-old dust ejecta during an exceptionally close passage of the comet by Earth.
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legacy image
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Chelyabinsk airburst
Novato meteorite fall
Sutter's Mill meteorite fall
2011 Draconid outburst
Website.
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2011The encounter of Earth with the 1900-dust ejecta of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner promises a rich shower and the chance to study the breakup of a comet.
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Hayabusa re-entry
Impact and recovery of 2008 TC3
ATV-1 "Jules Verne" MAC mission
Website
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2015An international multi-instrument airborne campaign to prepare for the ISS de-orbit and to study the physics of uncontrolled reentries by observing the controlled shallow reentry of ATV-5.
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Website
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2008An international multi-instrument airborne campaign to monitor the safe reentry of ESA's new Automated Transfer Vehicle over the south Pacific ocean during its maiden voyage in 2008.
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Legacy image
[#3 Best astronomy picture of 2008 - Discovery Space]
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Gulfstream V meteor shower missions
website
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2008Study of the annual Quadrantid shower to determine the influence of Jupiter on the shower and whether the shower can have been created in 1490 AD.
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Legacy image
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2007An otherwise minor shower was expected to become strong with the imminent return of comet 8P/Tuttle.
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website
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Bright Ursid Meteor Dec 22, 2007
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website
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2007An outburst of Aurigid meteors dating from 4 A.D.. A brief but spectacular outburst of meteors was observed from two parallel flying Gulfstream V aircraft en route from Utah to California.
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Night of the mission
Legacy image
Legacy image
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Hyperseed MAC
Website
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2006The fiery return of the Stardust Sample Return Capsule was observed from the Nevada/Utah border from NASA's DC-8 Airborne Laboratory. Observers recorded a spectacular video of the entry, as well as signatures of the shock emissions, hot surface, white paint, and the ablating heat shield material.
[#1 News story in astronomy - Astronomy magazine]
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Fiery reentry of the Stardust sample return capsule
Legacy video by partipant Dr. Mike Taylor of Utah State University.
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Website
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2004During this final mission of the USAF FISTA aircraft, observers recorded how hot the Genesis Sample Return Capsule got before it crashed on the Utah salt flats due to a failed parachute opening.
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Back at Offutt AFB
Legacy image
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SOFIA Upper Deck Research Facility
Website
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2004Workshop to discuss a future research facility on the upper deck of the SOFIA Infrared Airborne Observatory.
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SOFIA S.U.R.F. logo |
Website
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2019Guest observer on SOFIA for alpha Monocerotid outburst campaign.
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Leonid MAC
| The Leonid MAC logo: a silhouetted human reaches beyond the limits of our knowledge, grasping toward the tail
of a comet. The orange stripe represents an upper region of the atmosphere where meteors vaporize and leave atomic debris behind that is responsible for the faint orange
glow of Earth's natural airglow layer. |
Website
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2002The final
meteor storms in this Leonid storm season
double peaked over Europe and Northern America. Both storms were observed
as planned during a flight from Torrejon, Spain, to Omaha, Nebraska. Aurora
created a scenic background for a blizzard of tiny meteors.
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Back at Offutt AFB
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2001The most beautiful of
all meteor storms in the Leonid storm season double-peaked
over Northern America and the western Pacific. The 2001 Leonid MAC covered
the first peak in a mission over the continental USA from Alabama to California.
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Website
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Proud at dawn!
Legacy image
[#1 News story in astronomy - Astronomy magazine]
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Website
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2000
No Leonid MAC mission because of relatively low meteor shower rates.
Airborne effort limited to small Cessna aircraft used to escape bad Florida weather and
moon light. Ground-based observers encounter the
1932 and 1866 dust trail on November 16/17 and 17/18.
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 Onboard the Cessna aircraft.
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1999The 1999 Leonid MAC mission patch features the flags of participating nations,
both nations from which participants originate as nations that are visited on our route.
The patch illustrates the multi-national and multi-instrument nature of the campaign,
symoblizing the global impact of meteoroids on satellite safety and the global
implications of our search for the origins of life. |
Website
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 Meteor
flux counter wearing video headset display.
Legacy image
Legacy image
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Website
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1998November 1998: the first airborne mission in this campaign executed over Okinawa, Japan.
This was NASA's first Astrobiology mission.
The mission featured the NSF/NCAR "Electra", with a 2-beam iron lidar of the University
of Illinois, and the USAF/452nd FTS "FISTA". |  At work during1998 mission.
Legacy image
Legacy image
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2009 Leonids:
video (YouTube)
1997 Leonids:
Legacy image
1995 Leonids:
Legacy image
+ Legacy image
Legacy image
Other images:
Legacy image - meteor in slit of Very Large Telescope
Legacy image - alpha Monocerotids
Legacy image - NEAR passing by Earth
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