[meteorite-list] The Planetary Society Awards Asteroid Trackers

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 14:03:24 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200703072203.l27M3Oh19935_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

NEWS RELEASE

The Planetary Society
65 N. Catalina Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106-2301 (626) 793-5100 Fax
(626) 793-5528
E-mail: tps at planetary.org Web: http://planetary.org

For Immediate Release: March 7, 2007
Contact: Susan Lendroth
 
The Planetary Society Awards Asteroid Trackers
Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants Given to Researchers from
Canada, China, French Polynesia, Italy, and the United States

The Planetary Society again advanced the search for comets and
asteroids that might someday strike our planet by awarding Gene
Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants (NEO) to seven researchers from
five countries. Last night the winners were announced at the
Planetary Defense Conference, a gathering of professional NEO
researchers from around the world, being held in Washington, D.C.

The 2007 recipients are Robert E. Holmes, Jr, Donald P. Pray, and
Brian D. Warner of the USA; Jean-Claude Pelle of French Polynesia;
Quanzhi Ye of China; Eric J. Allen of Canada; and Giovanni Sostero of
Italy. Visit the Society's website at
http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/neo_grants/updates.html
for more information on the winners, as well as updates on the work
of past winners. The Society received 23 proposals from 11 countries.

"For billions of years, impacts have helped shape and reshape our
solar system," said Planetary Society Director of Projects Bruce
Betts. "Only now are we able to track asteroids and comets to
determine if any pose a threat to our world."

The Planetary Society awards Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants
to amateur observers, observers in developing countries, and
professional astronomers who, with seed funding, can greatly increase
their programs' contributions to NEO research.

This year's recipients will use their money in a variety of ways:

Holmes of the Astronomical Research Institute in Illinois and Pelle
in Tahiti will both purchase new CCD cameras.
Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado will buy a new
telescope.
Pray, who operates the Carbuncle Hill Observatory in Rhode Island,
will upgrade and put back into service an older telescope.
Ye from China, an 18-year-old college student, will buy a laptop and
software to help operate an automated telescope for the Lulin Sky
Survey.
Allen from Quebec will automate the dome of a telescope.
Sostero, on behalf of the Associazione Friulana di Astronomia e
Meteorologia in Italy, will purchase a new computer and other
equipment.
In all cases, the grants will greatly increase their abilities to
observe NEOs.

NEOs have collided with Earth throughout the planet's history,
sometimes with cataclysmic results. An impact off the north coast of
Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago probably doomed the
dinosaurs, while an explosion over Siberia a mere century ago leveled
and burned hundreds of square miles of forest. And in 2029, the
asteroid Apophis, a few hundred meters in diameter, will come closer
to Earth than our geosynchronous communications satellites and has a
slim, but real, possibility of colliding with our planet on a return
pass in 2036.

The Planetary Society named its NEO Grant program for Gene Shoemaker
after his death in 1997. Shoemaker was a highly respected leader in
the study of impact structures and an advocate for NEO discovery and
tracking programs.

Nearly 70% of the estimated total number of one-kilometer or larger
objects that cross Earth's orbit have been discovered. Government
support for searches and follow-up programs remains modest, so
programs like The Planetary Society's Gene Shoemaker NEO Grants fill
a vital niche. Grant winners are especially critical for carefully
measuring positions of recently discovered NEOs. Once we know a NEO
is out there, we need to learn whether or not it will hit Earth.
Shoemaker NEO grant winners, past and present, operate many of the
most successful asteroid follow-up observatories in the world.

Funding for the Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant program comes from The
Planetary Society's members, whose voluntary dues and donations
permit targeted support of research and development programs in a
number of areas.

An international advisory group recommends candidates to receive the
grant awards. The advisory group includes Planetary Society NEO Grant
Coordinator Daniel D. Durda of the Southwest Research Institute; Alan
Harris, Space Sciences Institute; Petr Pravec, Ondrejov Observatory,
Czech Republic; Tim Spahr, Harvard Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics-Minor Planet Center; and Duncan Steel, Australian Centre
for Astrobiology and Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation.

-o0o-

The Planetary Society:
The Planetary Society has inspired millions of people to explore
other worlds and seek other life. Today, its international membership
makes the non-governmental Planetary Society the largest space
interest group in the world. Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis
Friedman founded The Planetary Society in 1980.
Received on Wed 07 Mar 2007 05:03:24 PM PST