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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Scientists appeared at a conference on April 29 to urge NASA to fund additional missions that support the agency's work in discovering and characterizing nearby objects of the earth.
NASA's director, Jim Bridenstine, said in an opening address at the conference on global defense that the agency was taking steps to identify objects likely to present a threat. risk of impact on the Earth, but that there was still much to be done to achieve the goals set by the Congress. years ago.
A provision of NASA's 2005 Authorization Act directed the agency to discover 90% of near-Earth objects with a diameter of at least 140 meters – enough to cause damage on a regional scale. impact case – within 15 years. One year later, astronomers have discovered more than 8,500 objects of this type, but estimate that they represent only about a third of the total population.
"We have more than a third of the way to go and the law that has been passed stipulates that NASA must be able to detect, track and characterize not only one third but 90% of them," he said. declared. we have to use our systems, use our capabilities, to finally get a lot more data, and we need to do it faster. "
He noted that one of the objectives of the Strategy and Plan of Action on Near-Earth Objects published by the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the White House last year was to improve the detection of such objects. "We are working on it every day," he said, adding that it was an area open to international cooperation. "We want more international partners to join us in this effort. We want more systems on the face of the Earth capable of detecting and tracking these objects. "
However, previous studies have concluded that, to achieve the purpose of the 2005 legislation, as well as to detect the much larger number of objects near the Earth that are smaller but still represent a danger – the object that exploded above Chelyabinsk (Russia) in February the year 2013 was not more than 20 meters wide – it will take a space observatory. NASA has for several years studied such a mission, called Near Earth Object Camera or NEOCam, and ranked it among the finalists of the most recent competition held for the Discovery class planetary science missions.
NASA did not choose NEOCam for development in this competition, but provided funding to support further work on an infrared instrument that it would use. "We want to continue our efforts so that we are ready when the budget is available to put this space system in place. [infrared] Said Lindley Johnson, NASA's global defense officer, in a speech later at the conference.
Some scientists argue for this ability as soon as possible. Global funding for global defense by NASA has increased in recent years to reach $ 150 million in 2019, and NASA has requested the same amount in its budget proposal for fiscal year 2020. A large portion of these funds is intended for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a mission scheduled for launch in 2021 to intercept a near-Earth asteroid as a test of techniques that can be used to hijack objects that pose a threat to the Earth.
DART received $ 98 million in fiscal year 2019, the year of its funding profile. "In NASA's planetary defense program, we have a corner that is starting to open after this year," said Jason Kalirai, head of the Civil Space Mission Zone at the NASA's Applied Physics Laboratory. Johns Hopkins University, which develops DART.
Mission advocates believe that this corner is an opening for NEOCam, and they believe that it could be completed in time to take advantage of a joint launch with another NASA mission, the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, at a reduced cost, by 2024. However, the time limit would require starting the mission as soon as possible.
Asked about it at the conference, Bridenstine said he was interested but did not commit to setting a specific launch date. "NEOCam is on the agenda," he said, noting that NASA currently has limited space capacity as part of the NEOWISE mission, an observatory of astrophysics recycled infrared. Bridenstine said he would talk to Thomas Zurbuchen, deputy administrator for science, and Lori Glaze, director of the agency's planetary science division, "on the ultimate way to get financing and commissioning of these informations".
Other participants in the meeting requested a mission on Apophis, the near-Earth asteroid, which will pass closer to Earth in April 2029 than satellites in geostationary orbit. This overview, they argued, offered a "unique opportunity" to study an asteroid that could be realized outside existing planetary science programs.
Bridenstine had a brief response to this proposal when it was addressed during a Q & A session. "Great," he says.
In a brief interview after his speech, Bridenstine stated that he generally supported the idea of having a budget line dedicated to global defense missions, rather than having them compete for funding. as part of NASA's existing global science budget. "This is not a bad idea," he said, adding that he should first discuss this concept with the White House's Office of Management and Budget.
Update of the exploration
At the conference, Bridenstine devoted most of his speech to the planetary defense, but he talked about the agency's plans for exploration, including the goal of landing. men on the moon from here 2024, established a little over a month ago in a speech by Vice President Mike Pence.
According to Bridenstine, this objective will require the use of the space launch system despite delays in its development. "NASA is very committed to this effort," he said. "The only way to achieve this is to use this rocket, the largest that has ever been developed, the space launch system and Upper Stage exploration." However, the SLS, in its initial versions, especially the one with the upper stage exploration, will not achieve the payload performance of the fifty-year-old Saturn 5.
Bridenstine added that the SLS could also support space science missions and even planetary defense. "This rocket is a catalyst for what you are trying to achieve in this room, namely the protection of the planet Earth," he said.
To reach the goal of 2024 announced by Pence last month, additional funding is needed. Bridenstine had previously indicated that he would work with the White House to develop a revised budget request for the 2020 fiscal year, with the additional funds needed. Asked during the interview, if this request had been submitted to Congress, he replied "Not yet".
It is currently expected that Bridenstine will testify on May 1 before the Senate Committee on Trade, Justice and Science Subcommittee on Supply on the agency's budget request for 2020.
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