Near Earth Objects

I was long ago been bitten by a bug that made Near Earth orbiting objects a facination for me. I believe that nearby objects should be more than a menace to fear. These objects harbor precious resources that pave our way to deeper space.

My interest in impact craters goes back to when I was a child fascinated by the mighty dinosaurs. Even then, scientists imagined that a great impact event could have modified the environment of the Cretaceous Earth. Although Hollywood has gloried the possibility of a hazardous impact, the truth remains that Earth is as likely to be stuck by a NEO as it was 65 million years ago.

One of the earliest pioneers of in-depth searches for nearby objects was Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, a co-discoverer of comet SL9, and expert on planetary impacts. I would like to dedicate this page to Dr. Shoemaker, in honor of his many efforts to discover and track these objects so near to us. In March 2000, the NEAR spacecraft was renamed to NEAR Shoemaker.

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Look Out! Check JPL's Close Approach page to see what's coming near us!
Apophis aka 2004MN4 Information from the Wikipedia

Check out the orbits for the 2005 YU55 that is passing on November 8, 2011
Check out Astro Guyz for tips on seeing it's closest passage @ 6:29 EST / 11:29 UTC

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LINKS TO NEO DETECTION PROGRAMS

• The Spacequard Central Node and NEO Science page
• Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Home Page
• Spacewatch Project Home Page
• LONEOS Lowell Observatory NEO Search
• IAU: Minor Planet Center
• Asteroid Comet Impact Hazards Website
• Asteroid Radar Research Home page - they also have a great link page !
• Planetary Defense - an Air Force Research Paper

ASTEROID RESOURCE UTILIZATION

• Permanent.com - A great site for space colonizers
• Asteroid Mining Paper by M. J. Sonter
• Solar System Exploration Target Bodies - JPL
• List Of The Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) - Know Thy Enemy!
• JPL Near Earth Objects PHA orbit diagrams
• Earth Crossing Asteroids Main Menu
• Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazard
• Comets, Culture & Currency - from Bob Kobres

IMPACT CRATERS!

• Terrestial Impact Craters - - From Calvin J. Hamilton
• Chicxulub Seismic Experiment Is this the one that caused the K-T extinctions?
• Are we doomed?Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazard Bibliography 1992-2000
• Venusian Impact Craters - - From Views of the Solar System
• The Planetary Society wisits impact debris in NEO Earth Expeditions
• Impact Cratering on Earth - from Canada's Regional Geophysics Section
• The Crater in NASA's backyard (Langley Research Center) - The Chesapeake Bay Bolide

LINKS TO *COOL* NEO STUFF !

• Check the orbit of your favorite NEO from JPL, it's dynamite
• Download a free Asteroids Game !
• Visualizing selected NEOs - from JPL
• Impacts Into Asteroids - Simulations by Erik Asphaug

ASTEROIDS IN THE NEWS

• Give the Dog a Bone! - Kleopatra - a very interesting place. . .
• A Near Miss Scare! - CNN interactive news
• Press Release from Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

SPACECRAFT VISIT NEARBY OBJECTS !

• Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) - Successful mission at Eros!
• Look at Images from NEAR's encounter with Mathilde June 1997!
• Stardust Home Page - Sample return mission to comet Wild2
• ESA's Rosetta - Rendevous with Comet 46 P/Wirtanen
• JPL's Deep Space 1 - A Comet Flyby Mission that uses Ion Propulsion!
• Astra's personal favorite, the Dawn Mission to Vesta and Ceres

NEO Pages

• The Planetary Society's NEO Page
• JPL's Near Earth Object Program

Other NEO Pages

• International Meteor Organization (IMO) - What could be nearer than meteors?
• Maui Space Surveillance Site (MSSS) U.S.Air Force Tracking Station
• Space Debris Home Page This serious problem is explored by Russell D. Hoffman

This page is not complete, but was last updated on 11/07/11!

Beam me back, Astra!