Recommendations 1 to 9 cover the United Kingdom�s scientific role
within an international effort and Recommendations 10 to 14 the
coordination of all aspects of the subject internationally, in Europe
and in Britain.
Survey and discovery of Near Earth
Objects
Recommendation 1 We recommend that the Government should
seek partners, preferably in Europe, to build in the southern
hemisphere an advanced new 3 metre-class survey telescope for
surveying substantially smaller objects than those now systematically
observed by other telescopes. The telescope should be dedicated
to work on Near Earth Objects and be located on an appropriate
site.
Recommendation 2 We recommend that arrangements be
made for observational data obtained for other purposes by wide-field
facilities, such as the new British VISTA telescope, to be searched
for Near Earth Objects on a nightly basis.
Recommendation 3 We recommend that the Government draw
the attention of the European Space Agency to the particular
role that GAIA, one of its future missions, could play in surveying
the sky for Near Earth Objects. The potential in GAIA, and in
other space missions such as NASA�s SIRTF and the European Space
Agency�s BepiColombo, for Near Earth Object research should
be considered as a factor in defining the missions and in scheduling
their completion.
Accurate orbit determination
Recommendation 4
We recommend that the 1 metre Johannes Kapteyn Telescope on
La Palma, in which the United Kingdom is a partner, be dedicated
to follow-up observations of Near Earth Objects.
Composition and gross properties
Recommendation 5 We recommend that negotiations take
place with the partners with whom the United Kingdom shares
suitable telescopes to establish an arrangement for small amounts
of time to be provided under appropriate financial terms for
spectroscopic follow-up of Near Earth Objects.
Recommendation 6 We recommend that the Government explore,
with like-minded countries, the case for mounting a number of
coordinated space rendezvous missions based on relatively inexpensive
microsatellites, each to visit a different type of Near Earth
Object to establish its detailed characteristics.
Coordination of astronomical observations
Recommendation 7 We recommend that the Government �
together with other governments, the International Astronomical
Union and other interested parties � seek ways of putting the
governance and funding of the Minor Planet Center on a robust
international footing, including the Center�s links to executive
agencies if a potential threat were found.
Studies of impacts and environmental
and social effects
Recommendation 8 We recommend that the Government should
help promote multi-disciplinary studies of the consequences
of impacts from Near Earth Objects on the Earth in British and
European institutions concerned, including the Research Councils,
universities and the European Science Foundation.
Mitigation possibilities
Recommendation
9 We recommend that the Government,
with other governments, set in hand studies to look into the
practical possibilities of mitigating the results of impact
and deflecting incoming objects.
Organisation internationally
Recommendation 10 We recommend that the Government urgently
seek with other governments and international bodies (in particular
the International Astronomical Union) to establish a forum for
open discussion of the scientific aspects of Near Earth Objects,
and a forum for international action. Preferably these should
be brought together in an international body. It might have
some analogy with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
thereby covering science, impacts, and mitigation.
Organisation in Europe
Recommendation 11 We recommend that the Government discuss
with like-minded European governments how Europe could best
contribute to international efforts to cope with Near Earth
Objects, coordinate activities in Europe, and work towards becoming
a partner with the United States, with complementary roles in
specific areas. We recommend that the European Space Agency
and the European Southern Observatory, with the European Union
and the European Science Foundation, work out a strategy for
this purpose in time for discussion at the ministerial meeting
of the European Space Agency in 2001.
Organisation in United Kingdom
Recommendation 12 We recommend that the Government appoint
a single department to take the lead for coordination and conduct
of policy on Near Earth Objects, supported by the necessary
inter-departmental machinery.
British National Centre for Near Earth
Objects
Recommendation 13 We recommend that a British Centre
for Near Earth Objects be set up whose mission would be to promote
and coordinate work on the subject in Britain; to provide an
advisory service to the Government, other relevant authorities,
the public and the media, and to facilitate British involvement
in international activities. In doing so it would call on the
Research Councils involved, in particular the Particle Physics
and Astronomy Research Council and the Natural Environment Research
Council, and on universities, observatories and other bodies
concerned in Britain.
Recommendation 14 We recommend that one of the most
important functions of a British Centre for Near Earth Objects
be to provide a public service which would give balanced information
in clear, direct and comprehensible language as need might arise.
Such a service must respond to very different audiences: on
the one hand Parliament, the general public and the media; and
on the other the academic, scientific and environmental communities.
In all of this, full use should be made of the Internet. As
a first step, the Task Force recommends that a feasibility study
be established to determine the functions, terms of reference
and funding for such a Centre.