Washington, March 13 (ANI): The Secure World Foundation (SWF) has released the findings of a group of international experts that examines the legal and institutional issues linked to potential future threats posed by Near Earth Object (NEO) threats, like asteroids, to Earth.
The findings presented to the UN were the result of a workshop organized earlier this year by Secure World Foundation in coordination with the Association of Space Explorers and the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRECTEALC).
The meeting was hosted by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City.
An interdisciplinary group, including asteroid tracking specialists, space scientists, former astronauts, United Nations authorities, and disaster management, risk psychology and warning communication experts gathered to take part in the seminal workshop held January 18-20 in Mexico City.
"The Mexico City workshop provided a major step forward in our thinking about the needed components of an information, analysis, and warning network for asteroids," said Dr. Ray A. Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation.
"The workshop findings should go a long way toward providing the basis for such a network," he said.
Participants in the workshop considered a series of scenarios - hypothetical situations designed to highlight the challenges and problems that a future Information Analysis and Warning Network (IAWN) providing global warning and technical analysis would encounter in dealing with an Earth-threatening asteroid.
A report prepared by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, titled - Legal Aspects of NEO Threat Response and Related Institutional Issues - raises several issues regarding potential future NEOs threats.
The report makes note of three central conclusions.
The first is that developments in space science and space technology have made it possible to predict with some accuracy (and sometimes decades in advance) whether a NEO may present a serious threat.
The second is that developments have also made it possible in many cases to undertake successful efforts to minimize the chance of actual collision with the Earth.
The third is that an international framework for dealing with such issues is conspicuously missing, which may lead to unnecessary risks of NEO threats resulting in potentially catastrophic damage.
The legal and institutional report advises that there is need for more comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the key legal and institutional issues involved in future international NEO threat mitigation, "preferably prior to the first occasion of an actual serious NEO threat arising." (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
