Planetary Defenders: Behind the Scenes of NASA’s Documentary
What began as a scheduled documentary shoot turned into a real-time discovery of a potentially hazardous asteroid. On the very night NASA’s crew arrived at an observatory to film Planetary Defenders, astronomers discovered a new asteroid, whose initial trajectory raised legitimate concerns.
A Documentary Meets a Live Discovery
Planetary Defenders is a compelling look inside NASA’s real-world efforts to detect, monitor, and plan for near-Earth asteroid and comet impact threats. Through candid interviews, observatory footage, and scenario exercises, the documentary reveals the urgent, often invisible work of scientists and strategists on the front lines protecting our planet. It’s a glimpse into the very real systems that could one day prevent a global disaster.
Shaping the Scenario & Government Response
My involvement in Planetary Defenders focused on designing and participating in the scenario planning exercises shown in the film. These simulations aren’t designed to mimic a potential real life situation: testing assumptions, pressure-testing plans, and revealing where coordination will either succeed or fracture during a real crisis. Working with teams across NASA, FEMA, other federal agencies, we developed a multi-agency asteroid impact scenarios that reflected the real challenges of global coordination, communication, and contingency response.
The goal was to portray how leaders from different sectors might respond to a credible impact threat. How will data be shared? Who makes the first move? How do you align political, scientific, and operational priorities when lives are at stake?
What stood out most from these discussions was that, as disaster planners and emergency responders, the key element that will help us most is how much warning time we will have. Response and preparedness officials probably won’t be voting on which method will be used, we’ll take the advice of the experts in those areas. It also underscored how much these decisions would involve an entire team of different professionals and that the final decision is a political and policy decision, whether for an impact in the U.S. or internationally. The exercises reinforced that perspective.