‘NEOShield’ project gains support with asteroid flyby

The State Column
Sunday, January 29, 2012
        

Movies such as Deep Impact and Armageddon have perpetuated the fear of giant asteroids striking Earth and wiping out the entire human race. Asteroids, or near-Earth objects, have impacted Earth in the past. In order to combat the risk of massive asteroids in the near and distant future, the European Commission is funding a “NEOShield” project.

In a paper entitled “A Global Approach to Near-Earth Object Impact Threat Mitigation,” researchers from Russia, Germany, the United States, France, Britain and Spain discuss the “NEOShield” project.
   

“There is currently no concerted international plan addressing the impact threat and how to organize, prepare and implement mitigation measures,” the researchers write. The “NEOShield” projects draws on the expertise of 13 different research institutes, universities, and industrial organizations.

The primary objective of the “NEOShield” project is to examine the three most-likely techniques to be deployed in the event that a massive asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. According to the paper, the following three “mitigation” techniques will be studied: the kinetic impactor, blast deflection and the gravity tractor. The “NEOShield” project will also look into the best way to implement a global strategy in the event that an asteroid actually threatens Earth.

“The scientific side of this will include the analysis of observational data on NEOs and laboratory experiments in which projectiles are fired at asteroid surface analog materials with different compositions, densities, porosities and structures,” Alan Harris, a “NEOShield” project leader at the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Planetary Research, said in an interview with SPACE.com. “We need to understand how the momentum transfer from a kinetic impactor to an asteroid depends on the physical characteristics of the asteroid,” Mr. Harris added.

The paper also discusses the challenges of selecting an asteroid for a “demo-mission.” The “NEOShield” project will eventually include a list of the required “dynamical and physical characteristics” for a demo-mission target, the most suitable demo-mission targets within the known asteroid population and any adjustments that need to be made in order to select specific asteroids for demo-missions.

The European Commission will contribute 4 million Euro to the “NEOShield” project.


Without a doubt stopping large asteroid impacts to earth is THEE MOST IMPORTANT Technological advance our species can make or any intelligent species evolving on a planet in solar system where planetary debris is whizzing around where it can and will destroy life forms on planets evolving life. We can be smarter than super computers but it won't mean a thing if we get hit by one of those large asteroids flying around our solar system. With all the billions of potential planets with life on them, passing this test of planetary protection must be the mark of any evolving intelligent species.