Dr. Dante Lauretta is a Regents Professor of Planetary Science and Cosmochemistry in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and the Department of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona. Since 2011 he has served as the Principal Investigator for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission. In addition, he is a co-Investigator on Japan’s Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission, the European Space Agency’s Hera planetary defense mission, and Director of the Arizona Astrobiology Center.

Dr. Lauretta is a distinguished academic researcher and has published over 200 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and co-edited several academic books. His research has been featured on the covers of Science, Nature, Nature Astronomy, Nature Geoscience, and Sky and Telescope. He has won numerous awards for his work including the NASA Silver Achievement Medal and holds two Guinness World Records. Asteroid 5819 is named Lauretta in recognition of his scientific contributions.
- (Grand Central Pub)