HR: 09:50h
AN: P51E-03 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Beyond Spaceguard: Steps Toward Protecting Planet Earth, and Stepping Stones on the Path to Exploration
AU: * Asphaug, E
EM: asphaug@es.ucsc.edu
AF: UCSC, Earth Sciences Dept. University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 United States
AB: Asteroids and comets are not well understood, but their hazard is mitigable if we take time to learn their structural mechanical properties, and in turn how to divert them (if we have secured adequate lead time) or to disrupt them if not. NASA has already taken a primary role in the scientific exploration of near-Earth objects, or NEOs. Because there is no central entity assigned the task of NEO hazard mitigation, it was recently recommended by a major scientific workshop (see http://www.noao.edu/meetings/mitigation) that NASA, guided and aided by close international cooperation, assume a leadership role in quantifying the population and physical diversity of near-Earth objects that may collide with our planet. While it has acquired political and societal impetus, NEO science is fundamental solar system exploration. Beyond posing a threat, these building blocks of planets record the solar system's origin and evolution, offer potential resources for solar system exploration, and have been a critical component of terrestrial biology. It is therefore natural that mitigation technology be rooted in fundamental planetary exploration, and in the coming decades the paths may be identical. Techniques for this exploration will be presented, and the fruits of knowing how to manipulate a dangerous asteroid will be described.
DE: 6205 Asteroids and meteoroids
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting