CURRENT ACTIVITIES  
             AND FUTURE PLANS

This chapter describes current work on Near Earth Objects around the world and the organisations involved, government and otherwise (except in the United Kingdom, covered in Chapter 7).

United States
The United States is doing far more about Near Earth Objects than the rest of the world put together. An essential element is the support of the US Congress.The central programme, to discover 90 per cent of objects above 1 kilometre in diameter in 10 years, is progressing well. The Minor Planet Center is at the hub of observations worldwide. In addition, military surveillance facilities in space and on the ground look continuously for objects and explosions in the upper atmosphere, including those from Near Earth Objects.The United States recognises that observations of Near Earth Objects bring good science as well as relating to a practical problem.

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a ground-based survey programme with running costs of about $3 million a year (see Annex C). It is currently centred on two sites with dedicated robotic United States Air Force telescopes and advanced solid state detectors (CCDs) and computers. In New Mexico there are two 1 metre telescopes for the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) team under the control of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); since 1998 this group has discovered more large Near Earth Objects than any other group. On the island of Maui in Hawaii, an advanced 1.2 metre telescope has been in operation from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena under the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking programme (NEAT).The same group is fitting new CCD detectors to the classic 1.2 metre Schmidt telescope at Mt Palomar (California).

The Spacewatch team at the University of Arizona has a different approach: it uses a 90 centimetre telescope, but looks for smaller objects over a limited area of sky. A 1.8 metre telescope is being completed to extend this work. Near Earth Objects are also observed at the Lowell Observatory and through the Catalina Sky Survey, both based in Arizona.Work to characterise their properties has been carried out by a number of groups using optical telescopes, including one operated by MIT. Particularly important for characterisation and imaging is the use of powerful radar using the giant radio telescope controlled by Cornell University at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with another at Goldstone in California controlled by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA’s space programme on smaller Solar System objects, costing about $100 million a year, comprises a number of rendezvous missions to asteroids and comets (listed at Annex D).The objectives are partly pure science, but the missions contribute much to the understanding of Near Earth Objects, which would be important if countermeasures were contemplated.The Agency supports most academic planetary science in the United States. At present the NEAR mission is in orbit above the surface of the asteroid Eros, photographing its surface. In 2005 the Deep Impact mission will project a half-tonne block of copper on to Comet Tempel 1. Much should be learnt about the internal structure of the comet by observing the resulting crater and the material ejected from it. NASA’s space telescopes, present and future (also at Annex D), while usually directed to other objectives, are also able to observe Near Earth Objects.These include the Hubble Space Telescope, the Next Generation Space Telescope and the Space Infra-Red Telescope Facility (SIRTF). In addition ground- and space-based surveillance observations by the US Air Force regularly pick up explosions from small asteroids in the upper atmosphere.

During the visit of the Task Force to the United States in March, NASA emphasised the need for work by other countries to complement their activities, mentioning three particular points; follow-up observations of objects which are often discovered but then lost; the search for smaller Near Earth Objects; and, in the southern hemisphere, the lack of dedicated optical telescopes and planetary radar. NASA emphasised the value of plates taken over many years by the United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope in Australia. For the future, the US National Science Foundation told us of the proposal for a 6.5 metre wide-angle survey telescope, which would be of outstanding value for surveying small Near Earth Objects, although its prime purpose would be extra-galactic work.

Organisation of United States activities
The US Congress has named NASA to be responsible in the United States for Near Earth Objects, assisted by the United States Air Force. Within NASA, the Headquarters is responsible for soliciting and selecting all science investigations, ground-based and space-based, for the detection and scientific exploration of Near Earth Objects; for guidance on strategic planning and mission selection; and for coordination with other agencies and organisations including international ones. In addition, a specially created Program Office has been set up at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to co-ordinate ground-based observations to complete the survey of objects of 1 kilometre and upwards; to facilitate communications within the observing community and between the community and the public regarding potentially hazardous objects; to respond to public inquiries; to maintain a publicly accessible catalogue of Near Earth Objects; to develop a strategy for their scientific exploration including in situ investigation by space missions, and to help Headquarters in its role regarding other US agencies and foreign activities.

Essential to the coordination and archiving of observations, and the setting of targets for follow-up, is the Minor Planet Center based at the Smithsonian Institute at Harvard. The Minor Planet Center is broadly under the wing of the International Astronomical Union and is funded in part by NASA on an annual basis.

In addition we note that the National Science Foundation is responsible for funding basic science including astronomy in universities except for work in planetary science. Some work on Near Earth Objects is nonetheless being done on National Science Foundation funded telescopes.The Department of Defense does not have planetary defence as part of its remit. But in its normal defence role in detecting incoming missiles, it observes many Near Earth Objects from both its ground- and space-based platforms.

Europe
There is no coordinated approach to Near Earth Objects in Europe. The Spaceguard Foundation continues to promote interest and helped organise a major international conference on the subject in Turin in 1999.The Foundation is based in Italy, and is closely linked to the Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale in Rome, supported by the Italian Research Council.The Institute is building a small survey telescope in Italy, and at Pisa there is a group expert in planetary dynamics and Near Earth Object orbit calculations. There are also related activities in universities and institutes including some in France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Greece and former Soviet Union countries. Interest in the subject is developing in a number of European institutions, including the Council of Europe. The European Union and its Commission have no formal policy on Near Earth Objects at present.

The European Space Agency has a direct and developing interest. In 2003 it plans to launch its Rosetta mission to rendezvous with a comet and fly past two asteroids, following its successful Giotto mission to Halley’s comet. It is also considering plans to launch the GAIA space telescope mission in about 10 years’ time.

In 1999 the Agency’s Long Term Policy Committee recommended that the Agency should be involved in studying the threat from Near Earth Objects and possible countermeasures. In addition the Agency is developing a statement of its possible future role in this respect for consideration at a Ministerial meeting on future strategy in 2001.This meeting will also involve the European Union. Recently, the Agency’s operations centre in Germany conducted several studies on Near Earth Objects with the Spaceguard Foundation of Italy. The first was for a Spaceguard Central Node, a data-centre for follow-up observations to complement the Minor Planet Center. A further study was completed early this year for a Spaceguard Integrated System for Potentially Hazardous Object Survey, including the study of a space telescope for observing objects in inner Earth orbits, and each object’s composition.

The European Southern Observatory has no formal involvement in work on Near Earth Objects at present. It has a number of large telescopes and advanced detectors on excellent sites in the Southern hemisphere. The United Kingdom is not at present a member.

The European Science Foundation, which brings together the research councils and science academies of most European countries, has activities relevant to Near Earth Objects: in particular a programme called IMPACT on the consequences of the impacts of objects on the Earth. Also relevant is the European Space Science Committee, supported by the Foundation.

Elsewhere
Outside the United States and Europe there is some ground-based work on Near Earth Objects, in particular in Japan, China, Canada and Australia. In Japan the Japanese Spaceguard Association operates the Bisei Center with survey telescopes of 50 centimetres and of 1 metre (not yet completed) for observing both Near Earth Objects and also space debris which might threaten Japanese satellites.The only current activity in the southern hemisphere is in Australia where there are plans for a 0.6 metre telescope for operation early in 2001, with NASA funding and participation by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. Regarding space, Japanese missions have observed the comet Halley; so too have spacecraft from the former Soviet Union, see Annex D.

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