2006 Near-Earth Object Survey and Deflection Study; NP-2007-020460-HQ
Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2007. Final Report--Presumed first edition, first printing. Wraps. Format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. 272 pages. Illustrated front and back cover. Illustrations (mostly in color). Definition of Terms. References. Appendices. Minor cover wear noted. NASA letter of appreciation to a senior National Nuclear Security Administration technical expert for support to this report. In the 2005 Budget Authorization Act, the U.S. Congress directed the NASA Administrator to provide an analysis of alternatives to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEO). Congress required that the Administrator submit a program by December 28, 2006 to survey 90% of the potentially hazardous objects measuring at least 140 meters in diameter by the end of 2020. In addition, the legislation required the Administrator to submit an analysis of alternatives that NASA could employ to divert an object on a likely collision course with Earth. A study team, led by the Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation (PA&E), derived requirements and figures of merit from the Act, and used these factors to evaluate the alternatives. The team developed a range of options from public and private sources and then analyzed their capabilities, levels of performance, life-cycle costs, schedules, and development and operations risks. This document presents the detailed results of these analyses. A summary report was submitted to Congress in December of 2006. During related Congressional testimony on this report, it was stated that The report's basic conclusion is that ``NASA recommends that the program continue as currently planned, and we will also take advantage of opportunities using potential dual-use telescopes and spacecraft--and partner with other agencies as feasible--to attempt to achieve the legislated goal within 15 years. However, due to current budget constraints, NASA cannot initiate a new program at this time.'' In addition, the report contained a number of additional findings,
including: ``The goal of the Survey Program should be modified to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize, by the end of 2020, 90 percent of all Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHOs) greater than 140m whose orbits pass within 0.05 AU of the Earth's orbit (as opposed to surveying for all NEOs); The Agency could achieve the specified goal of surveying for 90 percent of the potentially hazardous NEOs by the end of 2020 by partnering with other government agencies on potential future optical ground-based observatories and building a dedicated NEO survey asset assuming the partners' potential ground assets come online by 2010 and 2014, and a dedicated asset by 2015; Together, the two observatories potentially to be developed by other government agencies could complete 83 percent of the survey by 2020 if observing time at these observatories is shared with NASA's NEO Survey Program; New space-based infrared systems, combined with ground-based assets, could reduce the overall time to reach the 90 percent goal by at least three years. Space systems have additional benefits as well as costs and risks compared to ground-based alternatives; Radar systems cannot contribute to the search for potentially hazardous objects, but may be used to rapidly refine tracking and to determine object sizes for a few NEOs of potentially high interest. Existing radar systems are currently oversubscribed by other missions. Determining a NEO's mass and orbit is required to determine whether it represents a potential threat and to provide required information for most alternatives to mitigate such a threat. Beyond these parameters, characterization requirements and capabilities are tied directly to the mitigation strategy selected.''. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Near-Earth Object, Potentially Hazardous Objects, Asteroids, Comets, Detection, Deflection, Analysis of Alternatives, Tracking, Orbital Uncertainty, Technology Readiness, Threat Response, Torino Scale
[Book #84040]
Price: $125.00