Big asteroid passes by earth + White House Google Hangout asteroid discussion

Asteroid 1998 QE2 passed earth yesterday and earthlings waved hello/goodbye to it: Asteroid 1998 QE2 sails past Earth, leaving cosmic lessons behind – Cosmic Log.

This event inspired a Google+ Hangout that included a participant from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) along with several space notables for a discussion about  asteroids: We the Geeks: A White House Google+ Hangout Series – The White House

During a conversation moderated by OSTP’s Cristin Dorgelo, we’ll be talking about asteroid identification, characterization, resource utilization, and hazard mitigation with: