This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects (NEOs) including concepts and designs for mitigation. All opinions are those of the author.

03 March 2011

Presentations from Target NEO Workshop (22 February 2011): Providing a Resilient NEO Accessibility Program for Human Exploration Beyond LEO

Presentations from the recent TargetNEO workshop are now online.

Target NEO: Providing a Resilient NEO Accessibility
Program for Human Exploration Beyond LEO
Open Global Community NEO Workshop
February 22, 2011, 8 am – 6:30pm
George Washington University

- Session Summaries

Summaries of the various sessions are followed by detailed presentations at the sessions:

Session 2: The NEO Population: Knowns and Unknowns
2 - Summary

Session 3: Mission Design: Getting There and Back
3 - Summary

Session 4: NEO Characteristics for Safe and Meaningful Human Exploration
4 - Summary

Session 5: Mission Duration: Quantifying the Risks
5 - Summary

Session 6: Affordable Options for Increasing the Accessible NEO Catalog
6 - Summary

- Detailed Session Presentations

Session 1: Introduction, Workshop Scope, Overview of Flexible Path Vision
Session Moderator: John Logsdon, George Washington University, Faculty, Space Policy Institute

-Thomas Jones, Veteran Astronaut, Senior Research Scientist, Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition; “NEO Search Required for Operations & Exploration Risk Reduction”
1 - Jones

- Scott Pace, George Washington University, Director, Space Policy Institute; “Sustainable Human Space Exploration”
1 - Pace

- Dave Korsmeyer, Chief, Intelligent Systems Division, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Analysis Lead: Augustine Committee Flexible Path Option; “The Augustine Commission and the Flexible Path
1 - Korsmeyer

Session 2: The NEO Population: Knowns and Unknowns
Chairs: Andy Cheng, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Lindley Johnson, NASA Headquarters, Science Mission Directorat

- Session Introduction
2 - Intro

- Tim Spahr - Director, Minor Planet Center, SAO; “MPC Operations and Update”
2 - Spahr

- Don Yeomans - Program Scientist/Mgr., NASA NEO Program Office, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; “Precision NEO Orbit Prediction at JPL”
2 - Yeomans

- Scott Stuart - Deputy PI, LINEAR, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory; “Searching for NEOs”
2 - Stuart

- Amy Mainzer – WISE Deputy Project Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; “Space-based NEO Detection and Tracking, NEOWISE and Beyond”
2 - Mainzer

- Al Harris - NEO Population Studies, Consultant; “NEO Population Estimates
2 - Harris

Session 3: Mission Design: Getting There and Back
Chairs: Brent Barbee, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Dan Adamo, NASA
Johnson Space Center, ret., Consultant

- Session 3 Introduction
3 - Intro

- Damon Landau, Outer Planet Mission Analyst, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; “NEO Trajectories on a Flexible Path to Mars”
3 - Landau

- Bret Drake, Architect, Exploration Missions and Systems Office, NASA Johnson Space Center; “Architectures for Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids”
3 - Drake

- Ron Mink, Mission Systems Engineer, Mission Systems Engineering Services & Advanced Concepts Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; “Enabling Affordable Human Asteroid Missions by 2025”
3 - Mink

- Josh Hopkins, Principal Investigator for Advanced Human Exploration Missions, Lockheed-Martin Space Systems Company; “Short, Simple Asteroid Missions: The Plymouth Rock Approach”
3 - Hopkins

- Chel Stromgren, Chief Scientist for Strategic Analysis, SAIC; “Getting to the Starting Line: Launch and Assembly Reliability for Deep Space Missions”
3 - Stromgren

Session 4: NEO Characteristics for Safe and Meaningful Human Exploration
Chairs: Andy Rivkin, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Paul Abell, NASA Johnson Space Center

- Session 4 Introduction
4 - Intro

- Patrick Michel, Senior Researcher, University of Nice, CNRS, Cote d’Azur Observatory; “Physical Properties of NEOs: Current Knowledge from Observations, Simulations, and Their Possible Influence for the Design of a Human Mission”
4 - Michel

- Lance Benner, Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; “Arecibo and Goldstone Radar Characterization of NEO Mission Targets”
4 - Benner

- Joe Nuth, Senior Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; “Do we Really Understand the Rocks that Astronauts Might be Visiting?”
4 - Nuth

- Dan Scheeres, Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado; “The Asteroid Surface Environment, Knowns and Unknowns”
4 - Scheeres

- Mike Hess, Chief of the EVA, Robotics, and Crew Systems Operations Division, NASA Johnson Space Center; “Extravehicular Activity Considerations for Near-Earth Object Operations”
4 - Hess

Session 5: Mission Duration: Quantifying the Risks
Chairs: Dan Mazanek, NASA Langley Research Center and Rob Landis, NASA Ames Research Center

- Session 5 Introduction
5 - Intro

- Craig Kundrot, Deputy Program Scientist, Human Research Program, NASA Johnson Space Center; “Long Duration Space Missions: Human Subsystem Risks and Requirements”
5 - Kundrot

- Jack Stuster, Vice President, Principal Scientist & Author, Anacapa Sciences, Inc.; “Acceptable Risk: Human Missions to Near-Earth Objects”
5 - Stuster

- Ron Turner, Fellow, Analytical Services, Inc. (ANSER); “Radiation Risks and Challenges Associated with Human NEO Missions”
5 - Turner

- Andy Thomas, Astronaut (STS/MIR/ISS), ESMD Architecture Development, NASA Johnson Space Center; “Some Crew Perspectives of a NEO Mission”
5 - Thomas

Session 6: Affordable Options for Increasing the Accessible NEO Catalog
Chairs: Rich Dissly, Ball Aerospace and Ken Hibbard, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

- Session 6 Introduction
6 - Intro

- Andy Cheng, Chief Scientist, Space Department, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; “NEO Orbit Simulation Approach”
6 - Cheng

- Lynne Jones, LSST Solar System Project Scientist, University of Washington; “NEO Detection Capabilities of LSST”
6 - Jones

- Ken Hibbard, Senior Spacecraft Systems & Operations Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; “NEAR-Earth Survey Telescope (NEST) Human Robotic Precursor Mission Concept”
6 - Hibbard

- Amy Mainzer – WISE Deputy Project Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; “Next-Generation Space-Based IR NEO Surveys”
6 - Mainzer

- Robert Arentz, Adv. Systems Manager, Ball Aerospace; “A Candidate NEO Survey Mission for Affordable Human Spaceflight Target Assurance
6 - Arentz

Link: TargetNEO Website
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