Workshop on International Recommendations for NEO Threat Mitigation

This 2-day workshop brought together representatives from space agencies and international experts to discuss several issues related to international response and cooperation to respond to a Near Earth Object (NEO) impact threat.  This included discusion of a draft Terms of Reference for a potential Mission Planning and Operations Group (MPOG) which could help space agencies coordinate and plan their activities.

This workshop is a follow-up to the previous workshops in January, 2010, in Mexico City to discuss a NEO Information, Analysis, and Warning Network (IAWN) and in October, 2010, in Darmstatd, Germany, to discuss a NEO MPOG, based on the recomendations made to UN COPUOS in 2008.

The workshop was co-organized and co-sponsored by Action Team 14, part of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, Secure World Foundation (SWF), and the Association of Space Explorers (ASE).  The supporting agency host was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Near Earth Object Observations Program Office.

The workshop was held at the Courtyard Old Town in Pasadena, California.

Read the press release.

Read SWF Advisory Committee Member Marcia Smith's article about the workshop.