Moroccan students receive NASA awards

Moroccan students at Al Akhawayn University (AUI) recently received NASA research awards for measuring Potentially Hazardous Asteroids for NASA under the Killer Asteroid Project.

    Astronomy and Physics instructor Dr. Hassane Darhmaoui led his class of students that included Zineb Chaoui Aziz, Ijlal Loutfi and Hassan Bourhrous. While studying dangerous asteroids, the class made the discovery of three new asteroids designated as K07U14Q, K07T38O and K07T15X. 

    Student Bourhrous also confirmed the discovery of near earth object 2007 UG6 and had his name and results published at Harvard University for observations with exceptional scientific value to the astronomical community. 

    Each of the students received NASA – Astronomical Research Institute award certificates this month for their research efforts over the school year.

    Al Akhawayn University also received an engraved NASA award plaque that includes the names of lead instructor Dr. Hassane Darhmaoui and each of the students who participated in NASA’s Near Earth Object Observations Program and the Killer Asteroid Project. 

    “The students at AUI downloaded our images from the Internet that were taken by powerful telescopes at our observatory that can see stars 10 million times fainter than you can see with your own eye”, stated Robert Holmes, a research scientist for NASA’s Near Earth Object Observations Program. 

    “Our goal in the Killer Asteroid Project is to measure these objects for NASA’s Near Earth Object Observations program and help protect the earth from a possible future asteroid or comet impact,” he said.

    The Killer Asteroid Project is a world-wide NASA program managed by the Astronomical Research Institute located at Charleston, Illinois. It includes high schools, colleges and universities from China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Russia and the United States.

    Students working in the Killer Asteroid Project made over 3,000 measurements of these potentially hazardous objects in the past school year. Some students also discovered new asteroids that had never been seen before in association with the Astronomical Research Institute and the International Asteroid Search Campaign (IASC) ran by Patrick Miller at Hardin-Simmons University in Texas.

MAP