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Planetary Society To Award Second Round Of Asteroid-Discovery Grants


                     Planetary Society To Award Second Round of
                            Asteroid-Discovery Grants

                   Gene Shoemaker Near-Earth Object Grants Encourage
                    Detection of Potentially Dangerous Comets and
                                     Asteroids

                  The Planetary Society is seeking applications for
                  the second round of selections for the Gene
                  Shoemaker Near-Earth Object Grants. The purpose of
                  the grant program is to increase the rate of
                  discovery and follow-up studies of asteroids and
                  comets in Earth's vicinity by enabling amateur
                  observers, observers in developing countries, and
                  professional astronomers who, with seed funding,
                  could greatly increase their programs'
                  contributions to this critical research.

                  The deadline for receipt of applications for the
                  second round of selections is June 30, 1998.
                  Previous awardees will not be considered for the
                  present selection and applicants for the first
                  round wishing consideration in the second
                  selection are requested to submit new, updated
                  applications. Application forms are available on
                  this web site (http://planetary.org/NEO/neo-guidelines.html).

                  The Society's NEO Grant Program is coordinated by
                  Daniel D. Durda, an asteroid researcher at the
                  University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary
                  Laboratory. An international advisory group,
                  including noted near-Earth object scientists
                  Richard Binzel of the Massachusetts Institute of
                  Technology, Clark Chapman of the Southwest
                  Research Institute, Andrea Carusi of the
                  Spaceguard Foundation, and Brian Marsden of the
                  Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, will advise
                  the Planetary Society on the selection of awards
                  for the grants.

                  Facing the Threat of Comets and Asteroids

                  Popular awareness of the threat of comet and
                  asteroid impacts has increased dramatically in
                  recent months with the report of a close approach
                  past Earth of the asteroid 1997 XF11 in October
                  2028 and the summer release of the movies Deep
                  Impact and Armageddon.

                  Earth lives in a swarm of near-Earth objects of
                  different sizes and orbits. Scientists have only
                  recently begun to understand the significant
                  contribution NEOs have made to the evolution of
                  Earth -- and of life on Earth -- just as impacts
                  from comets and asteroids have contributed to the
                  evolution of all planets throughout the solar
                  system.

                  Less than 200 NEOs have been discovered thus far.
                  Scientists estimate that there are several
                  thousand such NEOs larger than one kilometer and
                  150,000 to perhaps 100 million larger than 100
                  meters in size.

                  While various astronomical groups and NASA
                  advisory committees have strongly recommended
                  discovery of these objects be accelerated,
                  government support for NEO search and follow-up
                  programs remains modest.

                  "At the current rate of discovery, it would take
                  decades to find a majority of even the large
                  NEOS," says Planetary Society Executive Director
                  Louis Friedman.

                  The Planetary Society hopes that its NEO Grant
                  Program will help map the potential hazards of the
                  future, allowing humanity to better understand the
                  threat of cosmic collisions.

                  The Society is cooperating with the Spaceguard
                  Foundation, a European-based international
                  organization, to help fund and promote discovery
                  of near-Earth objects.

                  Previous Grant Recipients

                  The first four Gene Shoemaker Near-Earth Object
                  Grants were awarded at the Celebration of Life
                  service honoring Shoemaker at the US Geological
                  Survey Flagstaff Field Center on October 11, 1997.
                  The grants, totaling more than $35,000, were
                  awarded to Gordan Garradd of Australia, Kirill
                  Zamarashkin of Russia, Walter Wild of the United
                  States, and Bill Holliday of the United States for
                  upgrades to their programs to search for NEOs.

                  The Society funds for the NEO Grant Program come
                  from its 100,000 members worldwide, whose
                  voluntary dues and donations permit targeted
                  support to research and development programs.