Eileen Ryan (New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology)
Keywords: asteroids, hazard mitigation, airburst, meteor
Abstract:
Public awareness of the danger of potentially hazardous asteroids has been heightened by the airburst of a meteor over Chelyabinsk, Russia, on February 15, 2013, which caused millions of dollars in damage from a shock wave that impacted structures and injured ~1500 people. Later that same day, a larger asteroid, 2012 DA14, made a close approach to the Earth, but harmlessly skimmed past. Further, other very close-approaching Near-Earth objects (NEOs) have recently posed threats to man-made space assets by passing through or very near the geosynchronous satellite zone. These events have lead to increased awareness and concern, and have subsequently served as a catalyst for deeper exploration of what is being done to mitigate such hazards, and whether more effort needs to be placed in this area of study.
Date of Conference: September 10-13, 2013
Track: Poster