New Fact Sheet Details Asteroid Threat to Earth

Secure World Foundation (SWF) has released a new fact sheet: Protecting Earth from Near Earth Objects.

Since the discovery of the Chicxulub crater and its likely association with a mass extinction event - some 65 million years ago - scientists have uncovered increasing evidence that celestial objects have a history of impacting the Earth and affecting its inhabitants.

Over the past decade a growing amount of research has begun to identify the types of objects that pose threats to Earth and potential mitigation strategies.

As a free service, SWF calls your attention to this new fact sheet that details:

- What are NEOs?
- Dealing with the threat
- Policy and legal issues

International policy challenges

SWF provides fact sheets covering issues related to space governance. These fact sheets are both technical in nature as well as policy-related, said Phil Smith, SWF Communications Director.

As detailed in the new SWF fact sheet, a particular type of NEO called a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) is the object of particular focus when it comes to a possible impact with the Earth.

“We have produced two fact sheets designed to help people understand what NEOs are, how they are categorized, and also highlight the international policy challenges associated with detecting, tracking and ultimately deflecting a hazardous-to-Earth NEO,” said Smith.