Near Earth Objects (NEOs)

RELATED NEWS: On January 21 Secure World Foundation, the Space Security Index (SSI) and the Embassy of Canada hosted an event titled "Space Security Index 2009: The Status and Future Trends in Space Security". A summary of the event can be found here.

NEOs: The Problem

Near Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them in close proximity to the Earth or intersect the Earth’s orbit. These are of particular concern because while the odds of an asteroid or comet impact with the Earth are small, the consequences can be devastating.

NEOs are subdivided into Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and Near Earth Comets (NECs). Within both groupings are Potentially HAzardous (PHAs) objects, those NEOs whose orbits intersect that of Earth’s and have a relatively high potential of impacting the Earth itself. It is a matter of time, then, that on occasion an asteroid or comet will collide with Earth, an event which has happened many times in our planet’s long history. Some of these events have been catastrophic in scale, such as the Chicxulub Impact event which is thought to have precipitated the extinction of the dinosaurs, while others such as the Tunguska Event have been more moderate. We currently have the technical capability, but apparently not the political or financial will, to invest in capabilities designed to detect, track and deflect some of the most probable NEOs. Photo credit: Phil Smith, courtesy SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc.

While the probability of an extinction level impact event in the immediate future is extremely small, the consequences of such an occurrence are extreme, and the probability of a smaller impact with local or regional destructive effects is much higher. The probability of an impact between these two happening in this century is about two percent. As such, mitigation efforts should begin now. 

What is the Secure World Foundation doing about NEOs?

The Foundation believes that governments, industry and non-profits should work together to find ways to detect and track NEOs using a robust space situational awareness system and establish a research and development program to identify technologies and governance that can lead to the deflection of an asteroid or comet when the time comes. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) operates a program called Safeguard, which systematically detects and tracks NEOs. In addition, amateur astronomers all over the world work to identify NEOs, posting information to websites. If Spaceguard or amateur astronomers discovered that one of these objects will hit the Earth, however, little could be done today to deal with the impending crisis.

One of the Foundation’s key partners, the B612 Foundation, is dedicated to significantly altering the orbit of an asteroid, in a controlled manner, by 2015. This will serve to demonstrate the feasibility of detecting, tracking and deflecting a NEO. Further, this demonstration will highlight in a dramatic way the needs of a NEO tracking and deflection system in a way that the public will be receptive to.

Be sure to visit the links above to learn more about NEOs in International Space Policy Documents, Reports, Fact Sheets, Links, and Papers and Articles.