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.

16 May 2011

Paper: "Planetary Defense and an Energy Infrastructure for Near Earth Space"

Planetary Defense and an Energy Infrastructure for Near Earth Space

Fork, R.; Burgess, L.; Bergstue, G.; Gaillard, R.; Dept. of Electr./Comput. Eng., Univ. of Alabama Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, USA

Proceedings of the IEEE
Issue Date: March 2011
Volume: 99 Issue:3
On page(s): 359 - 362
ISSN: 0018-9219
INSPEC Accession Number: 11821910
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/JPROC.2010.2096250
Date of Current Version: 17 February 2011
Sponsored by: IEEE

Abstract:
The White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), in response to recent Congressional action, assigned National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) the task of: "(A) protecting the United States from a near-Earth object that is expected to collide with Earth; and (B) implementing a deflection Digital Object campaign. A "functional analysis" of the task was recommended. A planetary defense strategy was considered to such an analysis. Using lasers in space for planetary defense and space energy infrastructure will reduce the current cost of lift to orbit, remove debris from space, assist in rescuing astronauts in difficulty, and deliver energy to other resources in space, and possibly, even eventually to Earth.

Link: IEEE XPlore
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