Professor Dante Lauretta discusses the origins of his journey to explore the dawn of the solar system. The mission began in 2004 when his mentor, Mike Drake, invited him to meet with Lockheed Martin to propose an asteroid sample return mission. Lauretta s

Professor Dante Lauretta discusses the origins of his journey to explore the dawn of the solar system. The mission began in 2004 when his mentor, Mike Drake, invited him to meet with Lockheed Martin to propose an asteroid sample return mission. Lauretta shares his personal background as a once "directionless" student who found inspiration through a NASA job advertisement. The team's initial proposals suffered demoralizing rejections from NASA, which served as a "gut punch" but ultimately strengthened their resolve. These early challenges led to the identification of the target asteroid, 1999 RQ36. (1/4)
FEBRUARY 1930