Congratulations to PhD student recipients of the Schweickart Prize

Brian Murphy and Richard Cannon receive the prize in recognition of their proposal to expand planetary defence to humanity’s new frontiers.

The winning proposal, Untold Threats: A Worldwide Call to Defend New Frontiers, was developed by Brian Murphy and Richard Cannon who are based in the School’s Institute for Astronomy. Their work highlights emerging threats posed by meteoroid storms, asteroid ejecta, lunar impacts, and other hazards that could jeopardise the rapidly expanding ecosystem of satellites, communications systems, lunar infrastructure, and future space-based industries.

The proposal calls for establishing an International Commission on Space Infrastructure Resilience (ICSIR) to investigate these risks and develop recommendations for the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Ultimately, the authors envision creating a permanent international coordinating body, termed WARDEN (Warning-network for Asset Resilience from Dusts, Ejecta, and NEOs), to complement existing planetary defence organisations and coordinate the protection of humanity’s assets beyond Earth.

Brian Murphy said:

As civilisation becomes increasingly dependent on infrastructure in Earth orbit and cislunar space, we believe planetary defence must evolve accordingly. Our work seeks to ensure that humanity’s future expansion into space remains safe, sustainable, and resilient. We are deeply honoured to receive the Schweickart Prize and hope this proposal sparks broader international conversations about protecting these new frontiers.

The Schweickart Prize, a program of B612 Foundation, is an annual award that fosters a new generation of leaders in planetary defence and encourages ideas to help protect Earth from potential asteroid impacts. The prize is named after Russell “Rusty” Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut, co-founder of the Association of Space Explorers, and co-founder of B612.

B612 Foundation is a United States-based nonprofit, founded in 2002, which develops tools and technologies to understand, map, and navigate our solar system and protect our planet from asteroid impacts through its Asteroid Institute program and supporting educational programs.

Danica Remy, President of B612 said:

Rusty Schweickart taught us that planetary defence is ultimately an act of stewardship. This year’s winning proposal challenges us to think beyond protecting Earth alone and to consider how we safeguard the infrastructure and communities humanity will build throughout the Earth-Moon system. It is exactly the kind of bold, forward-looking thinking the Schweickart Prize was created to encourage.

Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut and co-founder emeritus of B612 Foundation said:

As human activity and vital interests rapidly expand into regions beyond the protective shield of our atmosphere, the number of passing objects capable of causing serious damage to both life and critical infrastructure increases dramatically. Our Schweickart Prize winners this year have called for a comprehensive and systematic examination of this emerging reality.