Yes, it’s time again for SBAG (NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group), this time the Winter meeting:
34th Meeting of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG)
January 13–14, 2026
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/sbagjan2026/technical_program/?session_no=101
Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 8:30 AM
8:30 AM Darryl Seligman Early-Career Icebreaker
9:25 AM Terik Daly Welcome and Logistics
Programmatic Updates (Chairs: Ronald Daly, Flaviane Venditti)
9:30 AM Louise Prockter NASA Planetary Science Division (PSD) Update
No smallsat call for 2026. Possible FINESST funding, tbd. 3I/ATLAS R&A eligible for awards.
10:15 AM Kelly Fast NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) Update
2024 YR4 tracking and organizational process. Another James Webb obs attempt in Feb (possibly more). IAWN 2025 FA22 campaign; 3I campaign explained …Apophis campaign. Goldstone to go down for maintenace- radar gap.
10:30 AM All Open Mic
L. Prockter: No Discovery, New Frontiers news. No President’s Budget Request for MMRTGs after Dragonfly.
10:50 AM Break
Early-Career Highlights (Chairs: Daniel Mazanek, Hannah Kaplan)
11:00 AM Tessa Frincke Near-Discovery SOAR Photometry of the Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS
11:15 AM Atsuhiro Yaginuma The Discovery and Thermal Evolution of 3I/ATLAS and the Feasibility of Spacecraft Flyby Missions
11:18 AM Luca Frassinella Safe Autonomous GNC Under Uncertainty for Small Bodies Proximity Operations
11:21 AM Anmol Sikka Unlocking Metallic Worlds: Granular Mechanics on Asteroid Psyche
11:24 AM Willem Hoogendam Integral Field Spectroscopy of 3I/ATLAS
11:27 AM Rohan Rahatgaonkar From Quiescence to Glow: Unveiling the Pre-Perihelion Activity of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS through Multi-Epoch Spectroscopy
11:30 AM Milagros Colazo The Colors of TNOs: From Historical Data to Rubin’s First Light
11:33 AM All Lightning Talk Q&A
11:40 AM All Open Mic
Catalina Sky Survey, Spacewatch (Arizona LPL), LCO obs hiring! No SIMPLEX news.
12:00 PM Lunch
The Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS (Chairs: Darryl Seligman, Christina Thomas)
1:30 PM Quanzhi Li 3I/ATLAS: Ground-Based Telescopes
Better response time since 2I.
1:50 PM Dennis Bodewits 3I/ATLAS: Space Telescopes
Hypervolatiles abundant.“Hyperactive” comet. Like Oort Cloud comets. X-ray detection of coma- gas studies.
2:10 PM Kelly Fast 3I/ATLAS: Planetary Missions
Lots of missions, data- not all data down
2:30 PM All 3I/ALTAS Q&A
Data quality (astrometry precision) at issue. Coming SPHEREx, TESS observations.
2:40 PM All Open Mic
Future object observations lessons learned.
3:10 PM Break
Observatories and International Missions (Chairs: Davide Farnocchia, Motoo Ito)
3:25 PM Mario Juric Vera C. Rubin Observatory (LSST)
Still tuning system, looks promising- reaching limits of prior reference system.
3:35 PM Larry Denneau Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS)
Mauna Loa ATLAS network node now back online. Product publications to expand.
3:45 PM Paco Ocana ESA Astrometric Follow-Up
Partner network making valuable contributions, corroborations. Space Situational Awareness as well (manmade objects). 2nd Flyeye telescope officially funded!
3:55 PM Ted Kareta Physical Characterization of NEOs
Minimoons HO3, PT5 (to increase with new telescopes). Require near-IR follow-up
4:05 PM Laura Mayorga Habitable Worlds Observatory
In formulation, soliciting input- redward limit, other community needs, wants???
4:15 PM Yuta Shimizu Martian Moons eXploration Mission
Landing site selection in progress and continuing. Rover site selection as well.
4:25 PM Tomoko Arai DESTINY+
Mission Moved to H3 launcher (with RAMSES), in 2028- encounter now 2030. Apophis flyby in 2029 now Phaethon demo. Extended mission- more asteroid targets? 2024 YR4?
4:35 PM All Open Mic