[meteorite-list] 1st IAA Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 13:20:31 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200808062020.NAA05615_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.congrex.nl/09c04/

1st IAA Planetary Defense Conference:
Protecting Earth from Asteroids

27 - 30 April 2009

Granada, Spain

The International Academy of Astronautics will hold its first conference on
protecting our planet from impacts by asteroids and comets the week of
April 27, 2009 in Granada, Spain. The 1st IAA Planetary Defense Conference:
Protecting Earth from Asteroids, co-sponsored by the European Space Agency,
is the follow-on to two previous planetary defense conferences held in 2004
in Los Angeles and 2007 in Washington, D.C. Details on the 2004 and 2007
conferences are at www.planetarydefense.info

The 2009 meeting will gather worldwide experts on detecting and tracking
objects that might be hazardous to our planet together with those who work
on detailed characterisation of these objects, those working on deflecting
a threatening object should one be detected and those with an interest in
the nature of impact disasters as well as covering political, legal and
policy issues that must be considered as part of an overall mitigation
strategy.

A particular focus of the conference will be the foreseen encounter with
Apophis, a 300-meter asteroid that is predicted to pass within 40,000 km
of Earth in 2029 and has a current probability of impacting our planet
in 2036 of 1 in 45000.

The conference will also be aimed at promoting multidisciplinary work on
the subject in the years to come. Special emphasis will be given to
involving students and young researchers from diffent fields, who could
find on this topic -a better understanding on NEO and the risk they could
involve- a point of encounter.

At present, there are about 900 asteroids and comets that are designated
Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHOs), objects that could eventually
threaten Earth. Ground-based observations are increasing this number by
more than 600 per year. Experts believe that there could be as many as
20,000 PHO objects larger than 140 meters.

The most recent significant impact occurred in Siberia, Russia, in 1908
when an object estimated to be between 30 and 50 meters in diameter
entered the atmosphere and exploded. The blast levelled and ignited over
2000 square kilometres of forest.

Researchers have discovered evidence that a larger object exploded over
Canada 18,900 years ago and that this event caused massive fires in
North America that caused a 10-degree drop in the average temperature
in the Northern Hemisphere for 1000 years.

Asteroids and comets are among our closest neighbours, they form part of
our nearest environment in the Solar System. However we still have a
great deal to learn about them. We have now some of the technologies
that might be needed to prevent these objects from hitting the Earth,
but what would actually be required to be sure a threatening object
can be tackled? And will we see it coming? The conference will help
answer these questions.
Received on Wed 06 Aug 2008 04:20:31 PM PDT