Planetary Defense Resource Sites

10.2.2023
A List of Informative Sites Relating to Planetary Defense

B612 Foundation 

Our goal is to develop tools and technologies to understand, map, and navigate our solar system and protect our planet from asteroid impacts.

Asteroid Institute 

Asteroid Institute is developing tools to enable at-scale analysis of moving-object data for small body discovery, characterization, and impact monitoring.

Asteroid Day 

Asteroid Day is a UN-sanctioned global awareness campaign participated annually on 30 June. Our mission is to inspire, engage, and educate the public about asteroid opportunities and risks.

Association of Space Explorers (ASE) 

The Association of Space Explorers is the professional organization of astronauts and cosmonauts. The ASE NEO Committee was formed in 2005 to bring the issue of the asteroid impact threat to the attention of world leaders.

ASE/NEO Committee Report to UN/COPUOS

The report of the ASE NEO Committee to the UN; Asteroid Threat: A Challenge for Global Response.

NASA/JPL NEO website

The official site for NASA/JPL’s Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS). This site has voluminous data on known NEOs, their precise orbits, and potential impacts. It is a prime source for all things related to NEOs and is updated continuously. It is the primary support source for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

European Space Agency NEO website

The European Space Agency’s equivalent to the NASA/JPL CNEOS site. An excellent site for up-to-date NEO information providing a redundant, but independent analysis of NEO orbits and potential impact threats.

ATLAS Telescope System

ATLAS is an asteroid impact early warning system that uses small, economical telescopes and cameras looking predominantly in the direction from which most impacting asteroids approach. It provides last-minute warnings of imminent impacts sufficient in most instances to permit impact zone evacuation.

United Nations/COPUOS

The two primary UN organizations that facilitate international coordination in response to the asteroid impact threat. The IAWN (International Asteroid Warning Network) addresses all monitoring and warning issues regarding known NEOs, while the SMPAG (Space Mission Planning Advisory Group) coordinates between UN member states with space agencies regarding asteroid impact mitigation measures.

Rusty Schweickart personal website

The site contains many narrative and video presentations of Rusty’s personal thoughts and actions regarding space, and in particular his beliefs regarding humanity’s responsibility for ensuring its continued future evolution.