NASA, FEMA and International Partners Plan Exercise on the Impact of an Asteroid – ScienceDaily

For more than 20 years, NASA and its international partners have searched the skies for NEO, asteroids and comets orbiting the Sun and located less than 50 million kilometers from Earth's orbit. International groups, such as NASA's Global Coordinating Office for Defense (PDCO), the Space Situational Awareness Segment of the European Space Agency and the International Space Network. Asteroids Alert (IAWN) have made the best hazard communication presented by NEOs a priority.

In the spirit of better communication, next week, at the 2019 Global Defense Conference, NASA's RODC, other US space science agencies and institutions, as well as international partners will an "exercise on the table" that will play a realistic but fictitious role. – scenario for an asteroid on a trajectory of impact with the Earth.

A simulation exercise of a simulated emergency situation commonly used in disaster management planning to inform stakeholders of important aspects of a possible disaster and to identify problems leading up to well an intervention. During next week's exercise, conference attendees will present a fictional scenario of the NEO impact developed by the NEO (CNEOS) Research Center's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. from NASA.

"These exercises have really helped us in the global defense community understand what our disaster management colleagues need to know," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's Global Defense Officer. "This exercise will help us develop more effective communications with each other and with our governments."

This type of exercise is also specifically identified as part of the National Earthquake Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan developed over a two-year period and published by the White House in June 2018. .

These exercises are not well written. It is to study how NEO observers, space agency officials, emergency managers, policy makers and citizens could react to a real impact forecast and information. in constant evolution. Next week's exercises will take place over the five days of the conference. Exercise leaders will inform participants of the state of the scenario at the end of each day and solicit feedback ideas and comments based on the latest fictitious data.

The scenario begins with the fictional premise that on March 26, astronomers "discovered" a NEO that they consider potentially dangerous for the Earth. After a few months of follow-up, observers predict that this NEO, called PDC 2019, presents a one in 100 chance of impacting the Earth by 2027 (in reality, the international community has decided that a chance over 100 of the impact is the action threshold). Participants in this exercise will discuss possible preparations for asteroid reconnaissance and diversion missions and planning to mitigate the effects of a potential impact.

NASA has already participated in six NEO impact exercises: three at global defense conferences (2013, 2015 and 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 States. Each exercise builds on the lessons learned in the previous exercise.

Working with FEMA, NASA has learned that emergency management officials do not focus on the scientific details of the asteroid. "What emergency managers want to know, is when, where and how an asteroid would impact, as well as the type and extent of damage that could occur," said Leviticus Lewis of the division. Operations Operations of FEMA.

But it is the scientific details that determine these factors. NASA-funded researchers are therefore continuing to develop capabilities to more accurately determine the potential impacts, based on what can be observed about an asteroid's position, movements, and orbital characteristics, to be ready for produce. the most accurate forecasts possible in the event that a real threat of impact is discovered.

"NASA and FEMA will continue to conduct periodic exercises with a growing community of American government agencies and international partners," Johnson said. "They are a great way to learn to work together and meet the needs of each and the goals set out in the NEO's National Action Plan for Preparing for the NEO."