Defending Planet Earth Near-Earth-Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies (2010) / Chapter Skim
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7 National and International Coordination and Collaboration
7 National and International Coordination and Collaboration
Pages 92-96
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From page 92... ...
EXISTING ORGANIZATIONS At the national level in the United States, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, sponsored by the International Astronomical Union but funded about 90 percent by NASA, collects observations of all asteroids and comets made around the world.
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From page 93... ...
The coordination could be implemented by way of a standing committee or an interagency task force of the appropriate agencies to organize and lead the effort to plan and coordinate any action to be taken by the United States individually, or in concert with other nations. This committee or task force would have membership from each of the relevant national agencies (NASA and the National Science Foundation [NSF]
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From page 94... ...
Nuclear-weapons designers in both Russia and the United States have often met to discuss the use of nuclear explosives to effect asteroid orbit changes. In the event of a sudden emergency due to the discovery of a threatening NEO, it is likely that people forming this international network would be the first to communicate with one another and to consider responses to the threat.
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From page 95... ...
This problem would be lessened were, for example, the civil-defense aspects combined with those for other natural hazards. Recommendation: The United States should establish a standing committee, with membership from each of the relevant agencies and departments, to develop a detailed plan for treating all aspects of the threat posed to Earth by near-Earth objects, and apportioning among these agencies and departments the authority and responsibility for carrying out this plan, in coordination and collaboration with other nations.
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From page 96... ...
representative to this group could be the chair of the standing committee, or the chair's designee. EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH Although popular movies raise general public awareness of the threat from NEOs, they do little to educate the public regarding the true risk to humanity and may result in significant misconceptions due to the highly distorted science presented.
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