A great page devoted to policy issues related to searching for and mitigating
against the danger to the Earth from impacting comets and near-Earth asteroids.
The web site of Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. The intent of this web page is to bring together relevant
information on all aspects of Near-Earth Object studies and, in particular,
to explain why these objects are so important to life on Earth.
The Near-Earth Object Dynamics Site (NEODyS) is a new online
information service for near-Earth asteroids (NEA's). At its core,
NEODyS is a database of orbital and observational information for
each NEA; however, the distinguishing feature of the system is the
degree to which the information is made available on the World Wide
Web.
What are NEOs? Where do they come from? Do they pose any real threat to
Earth? Can they provide viable space resources? All of these questions are
now under investigation by planetary scientists.
"EARN is an informal association of European research groups active in
asteroid research. The idea behind this service is to provide a means for easy
and fast communication, exchange of data and other information in both
observational and theoretical research on asteroids."
This site provides information related to all known bodies in orbit around
the sun. This site is maintained by the Solar
System Dynamics Group of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The Spacewatch project attempts to discover the hazardous asteroids
and comets which can impact Earth. They use the 0.91-meter (36 inch)
Newtonian Reflector of the Steward Observatory on
Kitt Peak
in Southern Arizona.
The Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking
(NEAT) program conduct a systematic search for
asteroids and comets that come near Earth.
It employs a JPL-developed camera mounted on
a U.S. Air Force telescope atop Mt. Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii.
Radar observations are now a fundamental tool in understanding
the shapes and structure of asteroids. At this site, you can see
Delay-Doppler images of asteroids and find out what Steve Ostro and
Co. of JPL are currently working on.
The International Meteor Organization (IMO) was founded in 1988 and has
more than 250 members now. IMO was created in response to an ever growing
need for international cooperation of meteor amateur work. The collection
of meteor observations by several methods from all around the world
ensures the comprehensive study of meteor showers and their relation to
comets and interplanetary dust.
SOARD is a menu-driven system, accessible via Internet, which allows researchers
to use numerous asteroid data sets in one uniform database. SOARD has been
created as a flexible tool for undertaking studies of asteroid populations
and sub-populations, to aid in the development of observation programs, and
to develop pedagogical materials.
The resources of near-Earth space (the Moon, asteroids, short-period
comets, etc.) are discussed at this site. It also covers the technical,
economic, political, social and environmental issues of space
industrialization and settlement.
