Day 10 - The Women of NEO

Now that my presentation is done, I am really relaxed and enjoying the conference. Day 1 of the conference was all about detecting asteroids - using ground-based and space-based telescopes. Day 2 was about characterization and tracking (s0 basically, after you detect or spot the asteroid, now you figure out how it's moving, what it's made of, where it's going, etc). The sessions are starting to get technical though, and I constatly need to be online to look up terms.

This was also day 2 of the asteroid impact exercise. On the first day, we learned that a 150-400 m sized asteroid is hurtling toward earth. On day two, we learn that there is a 50% chance it will not only hit us, but the risk corridoor (ie the points where it might hit) extends from Turkey to the Phillipines - basically half the hemisphere.

On day 1, I was assigned to the leaders group from countries that are affected. As part of the exercise, we discuss what needs to be done, and ask technical experts questions. I am really enjoying this part of the conference.

In the afternoon, I got promoted to being a leader of the affected countries to one of three world leaders who would be presiding at the scenario. This was a bit nerve wracking as there were 500 people now hanging on to every word I was saying. So I had to be really careful and good. I was given the role of India - which ofcourse has significant space and nuclear weapon capabilities. And we may need a nuclear explosion to prevent the asteroid from hitting earth. The pressure was on for me to make good decisions not just for India but for all mankind. Despite the pressure, I am really loving this!

At 6, I got invited to join a few senior women of the conference for dinner (pictures). We went to a restaurant inside of a 300 year old palace (and now hotel) called Villa

Tuscalana. It was just beautiful. We ate good food as usual - I am getting tired of eating well all the time, frankly, and at this point, all I want is to eat Chipotle with Kinjal and Jason. Don't get me wrong - the food was divine. I enjoyed the conversation too. It's nice to be with women sometimes. But I am now very homesick.