Newswise — In a presentation at the United Nations, Secure World Foundation (SWF) released the findings of a group of international experts that outlines needed steps and concerns in establishing a global detection and warning network to deal with possible Near Earth Object (NEO) threats to Earth.
An additional report, sponsored by SWF, has been issued by the space law department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, examining the legal and institutional issues linked to potential future threats posed by NEOs.
The findings presented to the UN were the result of a workshop organized earlier this year by Secure World Foundation in coordination with the Association of Space Explorers and the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRECTEALC). The meeting was hosted by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City.
An interdisciplinary group, including asteroid tracking specialists, space scientists, former astronauts, United Nations authorities, and disaster management, risk psychology and warning communication experts gathered to take part in the seminal workshop held January 18-20 in Mexico City.
Information Analysis and Warning Network
“The Mexico City workshop provided a major step forward in our thinking about the needed components of an information, analysis, and warning network for asteroids,” said Dr. Ray A. Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation. “The workshop findings should go a long way toward providing the basis for such a network.”
Participants in the workshop considered a series of scenarios - hypothetical situations designed to highlight the challenges and problems that a future Information Analysis and Warning Network (IAWN) providing global warning and technical analysis would encounter in dealing with an Earth-threatening asteroid.
The workshop findings were briefed last month in Vienna by Secure World Foundation at the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and submitted to Action Team-14 for their consideration.
The United Nations Action Team-14 is a group within the UN COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee established in 2001 for the purposes of addressing the asteroid impact threat.
Future threats
The report prepared by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is titled -- Legal Aspects of NEO Threat Response and Related Institutional Issues -- raises several issues regarding potential future NEOs threats.
The report makes note of three central conclusions:
-- Developments in space science and space technology have made it possible to predict with some accuracy (and sometimes decades in advance) whether a NEO may present a serious threat.
-- Developments have also made it possible in many cases to undertake successful efforts to minimize the chance of actual collision with the Earth.
-- An international framework for dealing with such issues is conspicuously missing, which may lead to unnecessary risks of NEO threats resulting in potentially catastrophic damage.
The legal and institutional report advises that there is need for more comprehensive and in‐depth analysis of the key legal and institutional issues involved in future international NEO threat mitigation, “preferably prior to the first occasion of an actual serious NEO threat arising.”
Reporters Note:
For access to the full report, Legal Aspects of NEO Threat Response and Related Institutional Issues, and to access the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, a Draft Report of the Working Group on Near-Earth Objects, go to:
http://www.secureworldfoundation.org/index.php?id=40&pid=16&page=Reports
In related resources available from Secure World Foundation regarding Near Earth Objects, several fact sheets are also available:
-- Near Earth Objects
http://www.secureworldfoundation.org/siteadmin/images/files/file_367.pdf
-- Protecting Earth from Near Earth Objects http://www.secureworldfoundation.org/siteadmin/images/files/file_344.pdf
Secure World Foundation
Secure World Foundation (SWF) is headquartered in Superior, Colorado, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Vienna, Austria. SWF is a private operating foundation dedicated to the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples.
SWF engages with academics, policy makers, scientists and advocates in the space and international affairs communities to support steps that strengthen global space security. It promotes the development of cooperative and effective use of space for the protection of Earth’s environment and human security.
The Foundation acts as a research body, convener and facilitator to advocate for key space security and other space related topics and to examine their influence on governance and international development.
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