About
Mike Hankey is a self taught software developer, entrepreneur, business owner, visionary, inventor, musician, astronomer, meteorite hunter/collector, farm owner/operator, writer and published author. Mike started his own software development business from his apartment in 1998 when he was just 26 years old, has grown and continued to operate the business for over 16 years. He has employed over 25 Maryland residents in that time and currently employees 10 people who operate out of his corporate office in Timonium MD.
In 2009, Mike started a hobby in astronomy and astrophotography and within 6 months, he took a world-record photograph of a super-bolide meteor that entered the atmosphere over Baltimore City MD. The photograph and Mike’s efforts to recover meteorites from the event led to international notoriety for Mike in the field of Astronomy and meteor science. Mike followed his passion for space and science and volunteered his time to the American Meteor Society by contributing his software development skills and the resources of his company to build a fireball tracking system to cover major meteor events that occur in the United States and Canada. In 2011, on the 100th anniversary of the society, Mike was given the society’s annual award. In 2012, Mike was promoted to the role of Operations Manager for the society. The system Mike built for the American Meteor Society is used by NASA, The USAF, The US Coast Guard, local law enforcement and emergency rescue services, meteor scientists world wide and over 50,000 witnesses of major fireball meteor events.
Since Mike and his company created the website in 2010 over 1.3 million people have visited the site. Mike has worked personally with federal employees inside the NASA JPL, NASA SETI and NASA Meteor Environment Office as well as representatives from the European Space Agency, The Paris Observatory, Societatea Astronomică Română de Meteori, Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Meteor Physics Group At University of Western Ontario and the International Meteor Organization.
In 2013 following the Russian Meteor Event that blew out windows in the city of Chelyabinsk and sent 1000 people to the hospital, Mike’s AMS website and fireball tracking tool took center stage in the world news as significant fireball meteor events continued to rain down on the United States and the globe. Mike has appeared on national broadcasts of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer and National Public Radio. He has also been featured on dozens of local radio and news programs. Mike’s work has been published in Sky and Telescope Magazine, The Journal of Science, msnbc.com, space.com, foxnews.com, The Huffington Post, Scientific American, The New Scientist Magazine, Discovery Science Magazine and 1000s of news paper articles world wide. Mike’s telescope resides in a mountain top observatory in northern California and he operates it remotely from his home in Monkton Maryland.
Here are a few of the articles and news stories that have featured Mike and his work over the last 5 years.
Journal of Planetary and Space Science – September 2017 – Published Paper – AMS NEXRAD
Washington Post – News Article – June 2017 – Broadneck Fireball
Weather Channel – Live TV – February 2017 – Science Behind Tracking Meteors
WJR Talk Radio – Radio Interview – February 2017 – Lake Michigan Fireball
New York Times – News Article – March 2016 – How an Amateur Meteorite Hunter Tracked Down a Fireball
New York Times – News Article – February 2016 – Goodness Gracious, Fireballs in February
#1 Link on Reddit – December 9th, 2015 – Eagle with Fish Photo
Discovery Magazine – January 2015 – #1 Citizen Science Project 2014
WFMJ NBC – Local News – November 2014 – Buffalo Fireball
Washington Post – News Story – November 2014 – Buffalo Fireball
Weather Channel – National News Broadcast – November 2014 East Coast Fireball
NBCNews.com – News Story – May 2014 – Toronto Fireball
Toronto CityNews – Local News Broadcast – May 2014 – Toronto Fireball
Discovery Science Magazine – Magazine Article – April 2014 – AMS Mobile Application
Sky and Telescope Magazine – News Story – Dec 2014 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower
ABC Nightly News With Diane Sawyer – National TV News Broadcast – Dec
2013 – Midwest Fireball
Fox News – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON
Scientific American – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON
NBC News – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON
NBC News – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON
Huffington Post – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON
NPR Nov – News Story – 2013 – Comet ISON
Space.com – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON
LA Times – News Story – Nov 2013 – LA Fireball
Reddit.com #1 link for day – Largest Social Media Site on the Web – Sept 2013 – Bubble Nebula
Meteorite Magazine – First Ever Magazine Article Written by Mike –
July 2013 – Chelyabinsk Meteor
KGO 80 ABC Radio San Francisco – Radio Interview – May 2013 – San Fransisco Fireball
Fast Company – News Story – March 2013 – AMS Fireball Program
Space.com – News Story – March 2013 – East Coast Fireball
NBC News – National TV News Broadcast – March 2013 – East Coast Fireball
NPR / APM – 30 minute radio interview – March 2013 – Chelyabinsk Meteor & Mason Dixon Meteor
NBC Miami – Local TV Broad Cast – March 2013 – Miami Meteor
Fox 45 Baltimore – Local TV Broad Cast – Feb 2013 – Chelyabinsk Meteor
Sky and Telescope – News Story – Dec 2012 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower
The Journal of Science – Published Contributor – Dec 2012 – Sutters Mill Meteorite
NBC News – News Story – Nov 2012 – Leonids Meteor Shower
Boston Globe – News Story – Aug 2012 – New England Fireball
Sky And Telescope – News Story – Dec 2011 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower
Sky And Telescope – News Story – Dec 2011 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower
Sky And Telescope – News Story – Jan 7 2011 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower
Sky And Telescope – News Story – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor
Baltimore Sun – Front Page News Story – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor
WJZ CBS Baltimore – Local News TV Broadcast – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor
ABC News 2 York PA – Local News TV Broadcast – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor