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While the headlines regularly report
"shaves" and "near misses" when NEOs such as
asteroids or comets pass relatively close to the Earth, the real work of preparation
for the possibility of a NEO impact with the Earth happening mainly out of the public
eye.
For more than 20 years, NASA and its
International partners have swept the sky in search of NEO, asteroids and comets orbiting the Sun.
and are within 50 million kilometers of Earth's orbit.
International groups, such as NASA's Global Defense Coordination Office
(PDCO), the Spatial Situational Awareness Segment (NEO) of the European Space Agency and
the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) has improved
the communication of the dangers presented by the Named Executive Officers is a top priority.
In a spirit of better communication,
next week at 2019
Planetary Defense ConferencePDCO from NASA and other US agencies
and space science institutes, as well as international partners,
participate in a "table exercise" that will give a realistic result –
but fictional – scenario for an asteroid on an impact trajectory with the Earth.
A simulation exercise of an emergency situation on table
commonly used in disaster management planning to help inform the actors involved
important aspects of a possible disaster and identify the problems
fulfilling a successful answer. In the course of next week's exercise, conference attendees
will play a fictitious scenario of impact on the NEO developed by the NASA Jet
Center of NEO Studies of the Propulsion Laboratory (CNEOS).
"These exercises really helped
we in the global defense community to understand what our colleagues in the
side of disaster management needs to know, "said Lindley Johnson, NASA
Planetary defense officer. "This exercise will help us develop more effectively
communications between them and with our governments ".
This type of exercise is also
specifically identified as part of the national
Near-Earth Object Preparation Strategy and Plan of Action developed
over a period of two years and published by the White House in June 2018.
These exercises are not well written.
It's a question of studying how the NEO observers, the heads of the space agencies,
emergency managers, policy makers and citizens could react to a real situation.
prediction of impacts and evolution of information. Next week's exercises will be
unfold during the five days of the conference, with an information session for those in charge of the exercise
participants about the scenario status at the end of each day and
solicit feedback ideas and comments, based on the latest fictitious data.
The scenario begins with fiction
On March 26, astronomers "discovered" a NEO that they consider to be
potentially dangerous for the Earth. After a few months of follow-up,
observers predict that this NEO – christened PDC 2019 – presents a 1 in 100 chance of
impact with the Earth in 2027 (in real life, the international community has
decided that the action threshold was 1 in 100). participants
in this exercise will discuss potential preparations for the asteroid
reconnaissance and deviation missions and planning for the mitigation of a
potential effects of the impact.
NASA participated in six NEO impact
exercises so far – three at the Global Defense Conferences (2013,
2015, 2017) and three in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA). The three NASA-FEMA exercises included representatives from several other
federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense and the State. Each exercise
build on lessons learned from the previous year.
What NASA learned by working with
FEMA is that emergency managers are not focused on science
details on the asteroid. "What emergency managers want to know is when, when
where and how an asteroid would impact, and the type and extent of damage that might
happen, "said Leviticus Lewis of the Operations Operations Division for FEMA.
But the scientific details are what
determine these things, so that NASA-funded researchers continue to develop
capabilities to determine more accurate locations and possible effects,
on the basis of what could be observed about the position of an asteroid, the orbital motion and
characteristics, to be ready to produce the most accurate forecasts possible
in this case, a threat of real impact has been discovered.
NASA and FEMA
will continue to conduct periodic exercises with continually expanding
US government agencies and international partners ", said
Johnson. "It's a great way for us to learn to work together and to
meet the needs of each other and the goals set out in the National National House
NEO Readiness Action Plan. "
Media contact
Dwayne Brown / JoAnna Wendel
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1003
[email protected] / [email protected]
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
818-393-9011
[email protected]
2019-073
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