The call for papers for the 2011 Planetary Defense Conference is open. Here are the details from the conference website. There is a specific page for the call for papers. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is January 14, 2011.
Papers are solicited for the 2011 IAA Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids sponsored by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and The Aerospace Corporation (information on sponsorships is available at http://www.pdc2011.org/).
The theme for the conference is “From Threat to Action.” Papers are solicited in the following areas:
Potentially hazardous Objects – Recent Progress
• Discovery statistics and projections (ground-based & space-based)
• Observational refinements including non-gravitational effects and keyholes
• Lessons learned from recent discoveries including Earth impacting 2008 TC3
Discovery and Tracking Resources and Plans
• Program plans (e.g., NASA’s NEO program, ESA’s SSA program)
• Survey completion estimates; ground-based and space-based surveys
• The status of next generation surveys (e.g., PanSTARRS and LSST)
• The discovery and tracking of 50-meter class PHOs
• Utilizing archival and historical data
Impacts, Consequences and Education
• Historical information
• Modeling ocean and land impacts
• Consequences, impact frequency vs. size of impactor
• Planning for a short or no warning time event
• Public/media education and notification
Mission Planning & Technologies
• Viable deflection concepts and technologies; technology readiness and constraints
• Launch windows and mission designs for chemical, nuclear thermal, and ion drive missions
• Minimum-time trajectories for NEO missions
• Current capabilities for NEO deflection missions
• Matching mitigation options with available technologies and action timeline
Campaign Planning
• Human and robotic campaigns that inform all three NEO issues: science, exploration and planetary defense
• Decision tree, timelines and decision-to-act criteria (e.g., Impact probability thresholds)
• Threat evolution with time – refining the threat
• What do we do if a threat is detected tomorrow?
Legal, Policy, Political Framework for Planetary Defense
• Current international agreements and coordination activities
• Organizing, coordinating, and managing an international effort
• Impact of public opinion on decision to act and choice of mitigation method
• Planning for and consequences of a false alarm
Moving Forward on Planetary Defense
• Funding levels and priority actions to build and maintain readiness
• Current national and international funded activities that support planetary defense
Link: Conference Website
