Abstract
NEOShield is a European-Union funded project to address impact hazard
mitigation issues, coordinated by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. The
NEOShield consortium consists of 13 research institutes, universities,
and industrial partners from 6 countries and includes leading US and
Russian space organizations. The primary aim of the project is to
investigate in detail promising mitigation techniques, such as the
kinetic impactor, blast deflection, and the gravity tractor, and devise
feasible demonstration missions. Options for an international strategy
for implementation when an actual impact threat arises will also be
investigated. The motivation for NEOShield arose partly from consistent
statements made in recent years by organizations such as The National
Research Council of the US (2010) and the International Academy of
Astronautics (2009), urging governments and relevant agencies to fund
research and conduct experiments leading to a space mission to test our
ability to deflect a threatening NEO. The NEOShield project is
structured to enable the results of scientific investigations into the
physical properties of near-Earth objects (NEOs) to flow into a
subsequent technical phase, in which mitigation demonstration missions
will be designed in sufficient detail to facilitate rapid development
and launch by international partners in a later phase of funding.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 28 Sept 2012 |
Event | European Planetary Science Congress 2012 - Madrid, Spain Duration: 23 Sept 2012 → 23 Sept 2012 |
Conference
Conference | European Planetary Science Congress 2012 |
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Country/Territory | Spain |
City | Madrid |
Period | 23/09/2012 → 23/09/2012 |