17. The long anticipated Congressional hearing on NASA's NEO Report to Congress was held on 8 November 2007. Included below are the excellent staff prepared background briefing for the hearing as well as the written testimony (and attachments) presented by Rusty Schweickart. The hearing was well attended and the discussion was both extensive and animated. While NASA's stated position on many of the controversial elements of its Report were substantially moderated in comparison to the plain reading of its Report, there is as yet no indication that NASA will either modify or supplement its Report.

House Science Committee hearing backgrounder (.pdf, 74K). Schweickart written testimony (.doc, 74K) and Attachment 1 (.doc, 31K) and Attachment 2 (.doc, 141K) to the testimony.

Additional information is now available on the House Committee website. The prepared testimony of all of the witnesses is available here, by clicking on their individual names on the left side of the page. On the upper right of the page one can click on the link provided to view the full webcast.

16. NASA's NEO Report to Congress (see #15 below) has stirred considerable controversy due to both its rejection of Congress' request for a recommended program to support the new Spaceguard Survey goal and it's technically flawed deflection analysis. The analytic work supporting the summary report to Congress is being withheld from public review by NASA despite it having been published as a 3-color glossy "Final Report" and distributed internally. A copy of this technical report is available in black & white here. (Note: be forwarned this is a 23 MB .pdf download) In addition Rusty Schweickart and Clark Chapman have separately reviewed NASA's Final Report and have provided their technical critiques to NASA, appealing to the Administrator to review and revise the NASA analysis and Report to Congress correcting the many technical errors and rethinking the recommendations and conclusions.

cover letter (.doc, 27K) to Administrator Michael Griffin, and two technical critiques by Schweickart (.doc, 382K) and Chapman (.doc, 60K).

15. In response to the Congressional directive to provide it an initial report not later than 1 year from the enactment of the George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Survey Act of 2005 (see initial report link below, #14), NASA released its Report to Congress on 8 March 2007. Concerned with errors of both omission and comission, and denied access to NASA's full report, 2006 Near-Earth Object Survey and Deflection Study, Final Report, December 2006 Rusty Schweickart independently analyzed and responded to the Congressional directive (see below).

cover letter (.doc, 35K) to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, and Independent Analysis of Alternatives that could be employed to divert a NEO on a likely collision course with Earth" (.doc, 199K)

14. White papers and presentations submitted by B612 members at the NASA NEO Workshop held in Vail, Colorado, 26-28 June, 2006. This workshop was organized by NASA in response to the congressional requirement that it be provided an initial report on its progress in implementation of the George E. Brown Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey (see Subtitle C, Section 321, (d)(4)).

Threat Characterization: Trajectory Dynamics, Schweickart, Chapman, Hut, Durda, Bottke, and Nesvorny, White Paper (.pdf, 1,300K). Presentation (.pdf, 1,900K).

Threat Mitigation: The Asteroid Tugboat, Schweickart, Chapman, Hut, Durda, White Paper (.pdf, 194K). Presentation (.pdf, 623K).

Threat Mitigation: The Gravity Tractor, Schweickart, Chapman, Hut, Durda, White Paper (.pdf, 214K). Presentation (.pdf, 623K).

Mitigation: Interfaces between NASA, Risk Managers, and the Public, Chapman, Durda, Schweickart, White Paper (.pdf, 596K).

Spacecraft at small NEO, Scheeres, White Paper (.pdf, 349K). Presentation (.ppt, 9MB).

13. NEOs: The Katrinas of the Cosmos? Presentation to the International Space Development Conference, 6 May 2005, Russell Schweickart Presentation, (.doc, 565K)

12. Gravitational tractor for towing asteroids Nature magazine, Vol. 438, 10 November 2005, Ed Lu and Stan Love. Article, (.pdf, 389K)

Gravity tractor at work, illustration, courtesy Dan Durda. (.jpg, 98K)

11. B612 Foundation press statement and related documents regarding the NASA analysis of the need for a transponder mission to asteroid 99942 Apophis. This analysis was performed in response to a B612 request to the NASA Administrator in June 2005. The full exchange of correspondence, including technical analyses, is included in the links below.

B612 Foundation Statement Regarding NASA's Analysis of Asteroid 99942 Apophis Impact Potential, 28 October 2005 Press Statement, (Word 2000, 32K)

B612 letter to NASA Administrator Griffin, (Word 2000, 28K); Attached letter to L. Johnson & D. Yeomans, (Word 2000, 352K)

NASA response to B612 Foundation, (.pdf, 128K); Attached analysis by Steve Chesley, (.pdf, 614K)

10. Better Collision Insurance. American Scientist, magazine, Vol. 93, September-October 2005, Russell L. Schweickart and Clark Chapman. Article, (.pdf, 210K)

9. Presented at the National Space Society, International Space Development Conference, Washington, DC 20 May 2005.

A Call for (Considered) Action, Russell L. Schweickart. Abstract, (Word 2000, 21K) Full paper, (.pdf, 883K)

Also see California for a simulation of a 2004MN4 impact generated tsunami in the Pacific Ocean and Gulf for one impacting in the Gulf of Mexico.

8. Presented at the World Federation of Scientists' Multidisciplinary Core Group on Planetary Emergencies, Rome, Italy, 1-2 December 2004.

Asteroid Deflection: An International Challenge, Russell L. Schweickart. Abstract, (Word 2000, 21K) Full paper, (Word 2000, 338K)

7. Presented at the World Federation of Scientists' International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies, Erice, Italy, 18-26 August 2004.

a) Asteroid Deflection; Hopes and Fears, Russell L. Schweickart. Abstract, (Word 2000, 21K) Full paper, (Word 2000, 58K)

b) Recent Perspectives on the Hazard of an Asteroid Impact, Clark Chapman. Abstract, (Word 2000, 21K) Full paper, (.pdf, 40K)

6. Testimony of Rusty Schweickart and Ed Lu before the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space of the Senate Commerce Committee, 7 April 2004.

a) Schweickart Full paper, (Word 2000, 26K)

b) Lu Full paper, (Word 2000, 26K)

5. The hazard of near-Earth asteroid impacts on earth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 222 (2004) 1-15; March 2004, Clark R. Chapman. Abstract, (Word 2000, 21K) Full Article, (.pdf, 306K)

4. The following set of papers were written for and presented at the AIAA 2004 Planetary Defense Conference; Protecting Earth From Asteroids, February 23-26, 2004

a) NEO Impact Scenarios. AIAA Paper 17184, Clark Chapman. Abstract, (Word 2000, 23K) Full paper, (.pdf, 306K)

b) The Real Deflection Dilemma. AIAA Paper 17184, Russell L. Schweickart. Abstract, (.pdf, 4K) Full paper, (.pdf, 165K)

c) Close Proximity Operations for Implementing Mitigation Strategies. AIAA Paper 17120, D. J. Scheeres. Abstract, (.pdf, 118K) Full paper, (.pdf, 762K)

d) The Mechanics of Moving Asteroids. AIAA Paper 17201, D. J. Scheeres and R. L. Schweickart. Abstract, (.pdf, 93K) Full paper, (.pdf, 436K)

3. The Asteroid Tugboat. Scientific American magazine, November 2003, Russell L. Schweickart, Edward T. Lu, Piet Hut, and Clark Chapman. Full Article, (.pdf, 197K)

2. Dear Mr. President, Letter to the President of the US as part of Edge 2003, Piet Hut, December 2002. http://www.edge.org/q2003/q03_hut.html

1. Presented at the OECD Global Science Forum Workshop on Near Earth Objects held in Frascati, Italy, 20-23 January 2003.

a) How a Near-Earth Object Impact Might Affect Society. Commissioned paper, Clark Chapman, January 2003. Short version, (Word, 78K) Long version, (Word, 115K)

b) The Need for a United Nations Asteroid Deflection Treaty to Establish a System for Trustworthy Mission Design and Execution. B612 Foundation Occasional Paper 0301, Russell L. Schweickart, January 2003. Abstract, (Word 2000, 20K) Full paper, (.pdf, 118K)

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