Senate Space Roundtable on Asteroid Close Calls

ProSpace, in conjunction with Space Frontier Foundation, is pleased to
announce the ninth in our series of Space Roundtables at the United States
Senate. Titled “The Asteroid Threat: Identification and Mitigation
Strategies”, this program will explore a range of ideas and information
regarding the asteroids and other objects that cross the earth’s orbit, what
we are doing to find and track them and what we could be doing to protect
the earth from a devastating impact.

The program will be held on Wednesday, July 10th at 1:00pm in room 192 of
the Dirksen Senate Office Building. To attend, please RSVP to:
prospace@prospace.org
Include your name, affiliation and telephone number.

You may be aware of the several close passes we have seen this year by large
asteroids. The last such object, classified “2002MN”, passed within 75,000
miles of the earth at a speed of 23,000 miles per hours just over one week
ago.

This object was approximately 70-100 meters in diameter, making it similar
in size to an object that hit the Tunguska region of Siberia in 1908. That
impact resulted in a blast equivalent to 10-15 megatons, leaving an area of
devastation that would cover two-thirds of Rhode Island.

While the idea of such an occurrence has been the stuff of science fiction,
events such as Tunguska and our recent close calls dictate we take a hard
look at the science facts. The experts we are gathering for our event will
present detailed information on search efforts, warning systems, possible
diversion scenarios and the overall probabilities that we will experience
such an event.

Our panelists for the program include:

Brig. Gen. Simon P. Worden, USAF

US Space Command

Dr. Colleen Hartman

NASA

Dr. Thomas Morgan

NASA

Dr. Brian Marsden

Minor Planet Center

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Evan Seamone

University of Iowa College of Law

Dr. Lee Valentine

Space Studies Institute

Rick Tumlinson

FINDS

Rich Godwin

The Watch

You are cordially invited to attend the program, as well as the buffet lunch
that will precede it. Simply RSVP via email at: prospace@prospace.org
When RSVP’ing, please provide your name, affiliation and your phone number.

See you at the Roundtable!

Regards,

Marc Schlather

Executive Director

The Space Roundtable