[meteorite-list] Concerned Citizens Ask for Congressional Action on Near Earth Objects

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:01 2004
Message-ID: <200307092224.PAA14789_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://space.com/scienceastronomy/neo_letter_030709.html

Concerned Citizens Ask for Congressional Action on Near Earth Objects
By Leonard David
space.com
09 July 2003

A distinguished group of Americans joined together to send a unique request
to Congressional leaders Wednesday -- a request that preparations be made to
deal with the prospect of Earth being slammed by an asteroid or comet.

In an "Open Letter to Congress on Near Earth Objects," the communication
underscores the danger our planet faces from near Earth objects, also termed
NEO's.

The letter has been sent to President Bush and his cabinet, the Secretary
General of the United Nations and to leaders around the globe.

Included among those that urged action on the NEO issue were: Apollo 17
Astronaut, Harrison Schmitt; Neil Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium;
Freeman Dyson, Professor Emeritus of Princeton University; Lucy Ann
McFadden, NEO scientist at the University of Maryland; New York University
professor and author, William Burrows; John Lewis, a scientist at the
University of Arizona, Tucson; and Thomas Jones, former astronaut and
veteran of four shuttle missions.

Potentially devastating threat

"We write to you today as concerned citizens, convinced that the time has
come for our nation to address comprehensively the impact threat from
asteroids and comets," the letter begins.

The overall aim of the Open Letter is start a process to educate national
leadership about the real threat posed by worrisome comets and asteroids
that can approach Earth:

"A growing body of scientific evidence shows that some of these celestial
bodies, also known as Near Earth Objects (NEOs), pose a potentially
devastating threat of collision with Earth, capable of causing widespread
destruction and loss of life. The largest such impacts can not only threaten
the survival of our nation, but even that of civilization itself."

Three step effort

The letter urges U.S. lawmakers to take a series of three steps, thereby
shaping a coordinated program to deal with the impact threat:

   * Step 1: NEO Detection - Expand and enhance this nation's capability to
     detect and to determine the orbits and physical characteristics of
     NEOs.

   * Step 2: NEO Exploration - Expand robotic exploration of asteroids and
     Earth-approaching comets and direct that U.S. astronauts again leave
     low-Earth orbit - this time to further explore certain NEOs in deep
     space for information required to develop an effective capability to
     deflect an NEO should we learn that one threatens life on Earth.

   * Step 3: NEO Contingency Planning - Initiate comprehensive contingency
     planning for deflecting any NEO found to pose a potential threat to
     Earth. In parallel, plan to meet the disaster relief needs created by
     an impending or actual NEO impact. U.S. government/private sector
     planning should invite international cooperation in addressing the
     problems of NEO detection, potential hazards and actual impacts. This
     step also advocates establishment of an Interagency NEO Task Force to
     address the NEO Impact Threat. This Task Force should be composed of
     senior representatives from appropriate government agencies.

Insurance policy

Resources committed to the NEO work have been very modest, an enclosure to
the Open Letter declares, "and not commensurate with the potential threat."
What is warranted is additional investment in search programs, deemed by the
letter's supporters as both "appropriate and prudent."

A dramatic improvement in the rate at which asteroids and comets are
discovered would likely result if the United States were to increase the
current level of funding, now at about $3.5 million per year, to at least
$20 million annually, the letter's enclosure explains.

The Open Letter concludes: "For the first time in human history, we have the
potential to protect ourselves from a catastrophe of truly cosmic
proportions."

"We cannot rely on statistics alone to protect us from catastrophe; such a
strategy is like refusing to buy fire insurance because blazes are
infrequent. Our country simply cannot afford to wait for the first modern
occurrence of a devastating NEO impact before taking steps to adequately
address this threat."

Prudent approach

A leader in scripting the NEO Open letter is former shuttle astronaut,
Thomas Jones. He is a veteran space traveler of shuttle missions, STS-59,
68, 80, and 98.

Contacted by SPACE.com, Jones said he is hopeful that the Open Letter stirs
Congress to take action. But he is also realistic.

"It may very well take an impact to shake things up and make the government
act," Jones said. "But since it's a basic responsibility of government to
provide for the common defense, and since that mission is spread over many
agencies, we thought that Congress is the right body to address the hazard,
and to direct a joint approach."

If Congress takes no action, Jones said that he and the other supporters
hope the President will act in response.

"It seems no one agency desires to take the lead on this, but since many
have roles to play, from Homeland Security to Defense to NASA, our hope is
that Congress can direct a concerted plan of action," Jones told SPACE.com.

"We already devote taxpayer funds to disaster preparedness in advance of
other natural hazards, and so we call for a similar, prudent approach to
studying and countering the impact hazard," Jones concluded.

To read the Open Letter in its entirety: www.CongressNEOaction.org
Received on Wed 09 Jul 2003 06:24:30 PM PDT