UNIS/MA/324
21 March 2023

MEDIA ADVISORY

Media representatives are invited to the

8th IAA Planetary Defense Conference

3-7 April 2023

Board Room D, Vienna International Centre, Vienna (3-6 April) and Festsaal, Austrian Academy of Sciences (2 April, 7 April)

VIENNA, 21 March (UN Information Service) — The 8th Planetary Defense Conference (PDC) of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) organized with the support of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Geosciences Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences will bring together world experts to discuss human knowledge about potentially hazardous asteroids and comets and possible defensive action in the event that one of them is on a collision course with Earth.

The Conference will kick-off with a public and media event on Sunday, 2 April at 4.30 p.m. at the Austrian Academy of Sciences on the DART mission and there will be an exhibition in the Rotunda of the Vienna International Centre.

Media are invited to:

• Public and media event on DART mission (in German and English), Sunday 2 April 2023, 4.30 p.m. - 8.00 p.m. at the Festsaal, Austrian Academy of Sciences. Register HERE.

Conference:

• Day 1 of the Conference, 3 April (2.30 p.m. - 6 p.m.), Board Room D, Vienna International Centre when the hypothetical hazardous asteroid scenario (https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/pd/cs/pdc23/) will be discussed in a dedicated panel for decision-makers and a Q&A with the media.

• Day 2 of the Conference, 4 April 2023 (9 a.m. - 3 p.m.), Board Room D, Vienna International Centre with focus on key political developments and national and international disaster management preparedness plans.

• Asteroid Hunters film screening and public & media event, 5 April, 8.15 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. at the Cineplexx Donauzentrum. Register HERE.

For more information and the conference programme, visit the dedicated webpage.

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Media accreditation:

For events outside the Vienna International Centre, please register following the links above.

Media representatives who wish to attend the conference at the Vienna International Centre should write to: press.vienna[at]un.org

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For more information please contact:

Martin Stasko
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Email: martin.stasko[at]un.org