Glossary

Amor asteroid

The Amor asteroids   are a group of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) named after the asteroid 1221 Amor. They have orbital semi-major axes a > 1 AU and perihelium distance 1.0167 < q < 1.3 AU. They approach the orbit of the Earth from beyond, but do not cross it. Most Amors do cross the orbit of Mars. It is estimated that 32% of the total number of NEAs are Amors.

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo   asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after asteroid 1862 Apollo. They are Earth-crosser asteroids that have orbital semi-major axes greater than that of the Earth (a > 1 AU) and a perihelion distance q < 1.0167 AU. It is estimated that 62% of the total number of NEAs are Apollos.

Aten asteroid

The Aten asteroids   are a group of near-Earth asteroids, named after asteroid 2062 Aten. They have orbital semi-major axes a of less than 1 AU and aphelion distances Q > 0.9833. It is estimated that 6% of the total number of NEAs are Atens.

IEO asteroids have a < 1 AU and Q < 0.983 AU and so never cross Earth's orbit.

Main-belt asteroid

The asteroid belt   is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits   of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets. The asteroid belt   region is also termed the main belt to distinguish it from other   concentrations of minor planets within the Solar System.

MOID

Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (see   Introduction)

NEA

Near Earth Asteroid (see Introduction)

NEO

Near Earth Object (asteroid, comet)

PHA

Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (see Introduction)

Units

6.37103 × 10³ km = mean radius of the Earth

1 Lunar Distance (LD)

3.84401 × 10⁵ km = 0.00257 AU = 60.34 R_Earth, the mean distance   from the Earth to the Moon

1.495979 × 10⁸ km = 389.17 LD, the mean distance   from the Earth to the Sun

H magnitude

V-band magnitude an asteroid would have at 1 AU distance from the Earth, viewed at opposition

1240 NEAs known, of which 290s PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

The CINEOS program (Campo Imperatore Near Earth Object Survey), which started in 2001, is dedicated to the discovery and follow-up of Near Earth Objects with a 90-cm Schmidt telescope. Between October 2001 and November 2004 CINEOS measured more than 6,1000 asteroid positions and discovered almost 2,200 new objects, including six NEOs and one Centaur (planetoid).
Ref:
-  F. Bernardi, A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, 2002, in B. Warmbein (ed.), 2002, Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors - ACM 2002, 29 July - 2 August 2002, Berlin (Germany), ESA SP-500, p. 801, "The Campo Imperatore Near Earth Objects Survey (CINEOS)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500.....W>;
-  A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, G.B. Valsecchi, et al., 2007, Earth, Moon and Planet, 100, 259, "The Campo Imperatore Near Earth Objects Survey (CINEOS)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007EM%26P..100..259B>.
See also: <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_Imperatore_Near-Earth_Object_Survey>.

Steps towards a NEO survey program in the southern hemisphere: Búsqueda Uruguaya de Supernovas, Cometas y Asteroides (BUSCA), in cooperation with the South American Spaceguard Association, with telescopes in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. A new 46-cm telescope of the Observatorio Astronómico Los Molinos (Uruguay) is expected to be operational in early 2002.
Ref:
-  G. Tancredi, A. Sosa, E. Acosta, et al. 2004, in: W. Wamsteker, R. Albrecht, H. Haubold (eds.), Developing Basic Space Science World-Wide. A Decade of UN/ESA Workshops (Dordrecht: Kluwer), p. 137, "The Uruguayan automated and robotic telescope BUSCA." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004dbss.book..137T>.
See also: <oalm.astronomia.edu.uy/proyectos/busca/NEOSurvey.htm>.

S. Isobe, 2001, Advances in Space Research, 28, 1139, "Short warning time for an NEA collision." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001AdSpR..28.1139I>.

M. Marov, H. Rickman (eds.), 2001, Collisional processes in the Solar System (Dordrecht: Kluwer). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001ASSL..261.....M>.

A. Morbidelli, 2001, in: M. Marov, H. Rickman (eds.), Collisional processes in the Solar System (Dordrecht: Kluwer), p. 289, "Origin and evolution of Near Earth Asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001ASSL..261..289M>.

A.W. Harris, 2001, in: M. Marov, H. Rickman (eds.), Collisional processes in the Solar System (Dordrecht: Kluwer), p. 323, "Near-Earth Asteroid surveys." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001ASSL..261..323H>.

C. Koeberl, 2001, Earth, Moon and Planets, 85-86, 209, "Craters on the Moon from Galileo to Wegener: a short history of the impact hypothesis, and implications for the study of terrestrial impact craters." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001EM%26P...85..209K>.

A. Cellino, 2001, Advances in Space Research, 28, 1103, "Physical properties of near-earth objects: open problems." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001AdSpR..28.1103C>.

J. Spitale, R. Greenberg, 2002, Icarus, 149, 222, "Numerical evaluation of the general Yarkovsky effect: effects on semi-major axis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..156..211S>.

2001, Jan 1

Spaceguard Survey update, ~50% of asteroids with D > 1 km discovered. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=31>.

2001, Jan 15

Asteroid 2001 BA16 (H = 25.8 mag, D ≈ 25 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.

NEO - MIPA Near-Earth Object hazard mitigation publication analysis, performed for ESA-ESOC. See: <www.tu-dresden.de/mwilr/space/rfs/Dokumente/Publikationen/NEO-MIPA-report.pdf >.

Asiago DLR Asteroid Survey (ADAS) began observations at Asiago-CimaEkar, a joint venture between the Department of Astronomy of the University of Asiago (Italy), the Astronomical Observatory of Padua (Italy), and the DLR Institute of Space Sensor Technology and Planetary Exploration, Berlin-Adlershof (Germany). The system uses a 2K x 2K CCD detector and a 0.6 m aperture Schmidt telescope. 108 asteroids discovered in 2001 – 2002.
See: <dipastro.pd.astro.it/planets/adas/>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/programs/adas.html>.

2001, Feb 12

Touch down of  NASA spacecraft Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker (NEAR – Shoemaker), launched 17 February 1996, on near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros (1898 DQ,  H = 11.16 mag, D = 34.4 × 11.2× 11.2 km, orbital P = 1.76 yr) in the "saddle region." Radio contact with NEAR– Shoemaker was lost on 28 February 2001.
Ref:
-  D.K. Yeomans, P.G. Antreasian, J.-P. Barriot, et al., 2000, Science, 289, 2085, "Radio science results during the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft rendezvous with Eros." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000Sci...289.2085Y>;
-  E. Asphaug, 2001, Nature, 413, 369, "Once upon an asteroid." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Natur.413..369A>;
-  J. Veverka, B. Farquhar, M. Robinson, et al., 2001, Nature, 413, 390, "The landing of the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft on asteroid 433 Eros." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Natur.413..390V>;
- J. Veverka (ed.), 2002, Icarus, 155, 1, "Near at Eros." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..155....1V>
- D.W. Dunham, R.W. Farquhar, J.V. McAdams, et al., Icarus, 159, 433, "Implementation of the First Asteroid Landing." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..159..433D>.
- C.R. Chapman, 2004, in:  M.J.S. Belton, et al. (eds.), 2004, Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids (Cambridge: CUP), p. 104, "What we know and don't know about surfaces of potentially hazardous small bodies."  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004mhca.conf..104C>.
See also: <near.jhuapl.edu/>, <near.jhuapl.edu/media/NEAR_fact_sheet.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=40>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=101>, <nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/news/near_descent_pr_20010131.html>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=come-closer-my-near>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nearing-a-crash-landing>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=close-encounter>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070217.html>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090607.html>, <www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/05/manned-asteroid-flyby-mission-1966/>,<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/433_Eros>.  

Number 1 issue of Tumbling Stone, on-line scientific magazine about NEOs, published by the Spaceguard Foundation and NEODyS. Discontinued after Number 25, 20 May 2004. See: <spaceguard.iasf-roma.inaf.it/tumblingstone/index.html>.

2001, Feb 23

New asteroid survey telescope proposed: the LSST. See: 2016.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=30>.

C.R. Chapman, D.D. Durda, R.E. Gold, 2001, "The comet/asteroid impact hazard: a systems approach." See: <www.internationalspace.com/pdf/NEOwp_Chapman-Durda-Gold.pdf>.

A.R. Hildebrand, K.A. Carroll, D.D. Balam, et al., 2001, presented at 32nd Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 12-16 March 2001, Houston (TX, USA), abstract no.1790, "The Near-Earth Space Surveillance (NESS) mission: discovery, tracking, and characterization of asteroids, comets, and artificial satellites with a microsatellite." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001LPI....32.1790H>.

A. Morbidelli, J.-M. Petit, B. Gladman, J. Chambers, 2001, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 36, 371, "A plausible cause of the Late Heavy Bombardment." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001M%26PS...36..371M>.

Asteroid 29075 (1950 DA, H = 17.0 mag, D ≈ 1.2-1.5 km, PHA) passed Earth at 0.05 AU (= 20.3 LD).
It will pass Earth very close on 16 March 2880.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1950+DA&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(29075)_1950_DA>.
Ref:
-  J.D. Giorgini, S.J. Ostro, L.A.M. Benner, et al., 2002, Science, 296, 132, "Asteroid 1950 DA's Encounter with Earth in 2880: physical limits of collision probability prediction." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Sci...296..132G>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=111>.

D.F. Lupishko, T.A. Lupishko, 2001, Solar System Research, 35,  227, "On the origins of Earth-approaching asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001SoSyR..35..227L>.

2001, May 12

New evidence indicates that the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction 200 Myr ago was sudden, consistent with possible impact mechanism. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=23>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triassic%E2%80%93Jurassic_extinction_event>.

2001, May 25

Asteroid 66391 (1999 KW4, H = 16.5 mag, D ≈ 2 km, PHA) passed Earth at 12.6 LD (within 5 × 10⁶ km).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1999+KW4&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(66391)_1999_KW4>.
A team of astronomers studied images that show the trail of a smaller component orbiting a larger component, images made with the 70-m Goldstone radar antenna in California's Mojave Desert. The system is the third binary near-Earth asteroid pair revealed by radar, but the first system imaged over a complete orbit of one component around the other. Steven J. Ostro of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (CA, USA), leader of the team that made the discovery: "Goldstone was able to track the asteroid for up to eight hours daily for a week. Then we made close-up images of each component using the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, which is not as fully steerable but is much more powerful."
Ref:
-  S.J. Ostro, J.-L. Margot, L.A.M. Benner, et al., 2006, Science, 314, 1276, "Radar imaging of binary Near-Earth Asteroid (66391) 1999 KW4." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Sci...314.1276O>;
-  A.W. Harris, E.G. Fahnestock, P. Pravec, 2009, Icarus, 199, 310, "On the shapes and spins of “rubble pile” asteroids."  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..199..310H>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=2>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=169>, <www.planetary.org/radio/show/00000216/>.
See also: 27 May 2071.

R.P. Binzel, A.W. Harris, S.J. Bus, T.H. Burbine, 2001, Icarus, 151, 139, "Spectral properties of Near-Earth Objects: Palomar and IRTF results for 48 objects including spacecraft targets (9969) Braille and (10302) 1989 ML." NEOs show a greater spectral diversity than main-belt asteroids. See: <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Icar..151..139B>.

2001, Jun 11-16

International meeting Asteroids 2001: From Piazzi to the 3^rd Millennium (Asteroids III), Palermo (Sicily, Italy). Proceedings: W.F. Bottke, A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi & R.P. Binzel (eds.), 2002, Asteroids III (Tucson: Univ. Arizona Press). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002aste.conf.....B>.

G.H. Stokes, J.B. Evans, S.M. Larson, 2001, in: W.F. Bottke, A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi & R.P. Binzel (eds.), 2002, Asteroids III (Tucson: Univ. Arizona Press), p. 45, "Near-Earth Asteroid search programs." See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/books/AsteroidsIII/pdf/3037.pdf>.

2001, Jun 17-25

Workshop on Physical Properties Of Potential Earth Impactors: Know Your Enemy, Erice (Sicily, Italy). Proceedings: W.F. Huebner, J.M. Greenberg (eds.), 2002, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 37, "Erice Workshop Summary on Physical and Chemical Properties of Potential Earth Impactors." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002M%26PS...37.1642H>,  <www.ccsem.infn.it/ccsem01/Greenberg01.html>.

G.F. Gronchi, 2001, Icarus, 152, 58, "Proper elements for Earth-crossing asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Icar..152...58G>.

2001, Jul 23

Bright meteor fireball over central Pennsylvania (USA) seen from the ground and space (by DoD satellites), tracked from an altitude of 82 km down to 32 km. Evaporated object had initial mass M ≈ 30 – 90 ton. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=1>, <www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/meteor_eastcoast_010725.html>.

A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, G. Forti, R. Gal, 2001, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 375, 293, "The Arcetri NEO precovery program." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001A%26A...375..293B>.

G. D'Abramo, A.W. Harris, A. Boatini, S.C. Werner, A.W. Harris, G.B. Valsecchi, 2001, Icarus, 153, 214, "A simple probabilistic model to estimate the population of near-Earth asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Icar..153..214D>.

2001, Sep 11-15

4^th International Conference on Space Protection of the Earth (SPE-2001), Evpatoriya (Ukraine).

S.V. Jeffers, S.P. Manley, M.E. Bailey, D.J. Asher, 2001, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 327, 126, "Near-Earth object velocity distributions and consequences for the Chicxulub impactor." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001MNRAS.327..126J>.

2001, Oct 20

B612 Foundation founding workshop on Deflecting Asteroids, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston (TX, USA), organized by Ed Lu and Piet Hut. Named after the asteroid featuring in the novel Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint Exupéry, 1943, Paris: Editions Gallimard), B612 is a think-tank and lobby group set up by Apollo 9 astronaut Russell L. Schweickart to further the Earth's protection against asteroid strikes.
See: <www.b612foundatiom.org/b612>.
Ref:
-  D. Chandler, 2008, Nature, 453, 1164, "The burger bar that saved the world." See: <www.nature.com/news/2008/080625/full/4531164a.html>.
See also: <www.b612foundation.org/about/history.html>, <www.sns.ias.edu/~piet/act/geo/deflection/index.html>.

2001, Oct 23 – 26

International Workshop on Collaboration and Coordination among NEO Observers and Orbital Computers, Kurashiki (Okayama, Japan), organized by the Japan Spaceguard Association. Proceedings: S. Isobe & Y. Asakura (eds.), 2001. See:  <www.spaceguard.or.jp/SGFJ/ws2001/kurashiki.pdf>.

J.S. Stuart, 2001, Science, 294, 1691, "A Near-Earth Asteroid population estimate from the LINEAR Survey." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Sci...294.1691S>.
The NEA population is more highly inclined than previously estimated, and the total number of kilometer-sized NEAs is estimated at 1227₋₉₀⁺¹⁷⁰ (1σ).

Trans-Carpathians Fireball. The bolide, EN171101, which entered the atmosphere near the village Turýi Remety in the Trans-Carpathians (Ukraine) was photographed by the Czech and Slovakia chambers of the European Bolide Network. The length of the luminous track reached 107 km, starting at an altitude of 81 km. The initial mass was estimated at 4500 kg.
Ref:
-  K.I. Churyumov, R.A. Belevtsev, E.V. Sobotovich, et al., 2010, in: J.A. Fernández, et al. (eds.), Icy Bodies of the Solar System, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 263, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 3-7 August 2009 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 244, "Magnetic microspheric particles from bright bolide of EN171101, exploded above the Trans-Carpathians mountains on November 17, 2001." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010IAUS..263..244C>.

Fireball, Smoke Trail, Meteor Storm, over Spruce Knob (WV, USA). See: <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011122.html>.

Leonids Meteor Shower Fireball, over Hawaii (USA). See: <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011119.html>.

J.S. Stuart, 2001, Science, 294, 1691, "A Near-Earth Asteroid population estimate from the LINEAR survey." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Sci...294.1691S>, <www.sciencemag.org/content/294/5547/1691.full.pdf>. 
See also: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-studies-sharpen-pictu>.

W.F. Bottke, D. Vokrouhlický, M. Brož, D. Nesvorný, A. Morbidelli, 2001, Science, 294, 1693, "Dynamical spreading of asteroid families by the Yarkovsky Effect." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Sci...294.1693B>. 
See also: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-studies-sharpen-pictu>.

P. Michel, W. Benz, P. Tanga, D.C. Richardson, 2001, Science, 294, 1696, "Collisions and gravitational re-accumulation: forming asteroid families and satellites." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Sci...294.1696M>. 
See also: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-studies-sharpen-pictu>.

1681 NEAs known, of which 373 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

2002

Russian and Ukrainian organizations founded the Planetary Defence Centre (Khimki-2, Moscow, Russian Federation) as a nonprofit-making partnership, with a view to combining the efforts of organizations and experts working in various fields towards the establishment of a planetary defence system. The activities of the Planetary Defence Centre are based on the conceptual design for the 'Citadel Planetary Defence System', which has been approved by the Centre’s member organizations. See: <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_863Add1E.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-43.pdf>.

W.F. Bottke, A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi & R.P. Binzel (eds.), 2002, Asteroids III, Proceedings International meeting Asteroids 2001: From Piazzi to the 3^rd Millennium, Palermo (Sicily, Italy), 11-16 June 2001 (Tucson: Univ. Arizona Press). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002aste.conf.....B>.

G.H. Stokes, J.B. Evans, S.M. Larson, 2002, in: W.F. Bottke, A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi & R.P. Binzel (eds.), 2002, Asteroids III, Proceedings International meeting Asteroids 2001: From Piazzi to the 3^rd Millennium, Palermo (Sicily, Italy), 11-16 June 2001 (Tucson: Univ. Arizona Press), p. 45, "Near-Earth Asteroid search programs." See: <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002aste.conf...45S>,  <www.lpi.usra.edu/books/AsteroidsIII/pdf/3037.pdf>.

S.N. Ward, E. Asphaug, 2002, Deep-Sea Research, Part II, 49, 1073, "Impact tsunami - Eltanin." See: <www.es.ucsc.edu/~ward/papers/final_eltanin.pdf>.

2002, Jan 7

Asteroid 2001 YB5 (H = 20.7 mag, D ≈ 250 m, PHA) passed Earth at 2.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2001+YB5&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_YB5>.
See also: <www.planetary.org/news/2002/0109_Asteroid_Gives_Earth_a_Close_Flyby.html>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=105>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=107>,  <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Cancrids>.

Asteroid 4660 Nereus (1982 DB, H = 18.2 mag, D ≈ 800 m, PHA) passed Earth at 11.3 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1982+DB&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4660_Nereus>.
Ref:
-  M. Brozovic, S.J. Ostro, L.A.M. Benner, et al., 2009, Icarus, 201, 153, "Radar observations and a physical model of asteroid 4660 Nereus, a prime space mission target." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..201..153B>.
See also 2021, 2060, 2071, and 2166.

2002, Feb

Spaceguard Survey update: 587 of the larger (D > 1 km) NEAs found. The present number of NEAs of all sizes is 1743. See:
<impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=109>.

D. Morrison, 2002, Astronomy, 30, No. 2, p. 46, "Target Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Ast....30b..46M>.

E.F. Tedesco, P.V. Noah, M. Noah, S.D. Price, 2002, Astronomical Journal, 123, 1056, "The Supplemental IRAS minor planet survey." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AJ....123.1056T>.

World's asteroid hunters make political plea to save earth. An international group of astronomers appeal to the Australian government for an Australian Spaceguard Program. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=108>.

2002, Feb 18

Start of project KLENOT, the Klet' Observatory Near Earth and other Unusual Objects Observation Team and Telescope (ƒåeské Budƒõjovice, Czech Republic), dedicated to confirmation, follow-up astrometry, and recovery of NEOs. 1.06-m telescope, 33' × 33' FoV,  limiting magnitude v = 22.0 mag.
Ref:
-  J. Tichá, M. Tichý, Z. Moravec, 2000, Planetary and Space Science, 48, 787, "Klet' Observatory NEO follow-up programme." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000P%26SS...48..787T>;
- J. Tichá, M. Tichý, M. Kočer, 2002, in: B. Warmbein (ed.), Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors – ACM 2002, Berlin (B.R.D), 29 July – 2 August 2002, ESA SP-500 (Noordwijk: ESA Publication Division), p. 793, "KLENOT – Klet' Observatory near-Earth and other unusual objects observations team and telescope." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500..793T>;
-  J. Tichá, M. Tichý, M. Kočer, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 371, "NEO-related scientific and outreach activities at KLENOT." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..371T>.
See also: <www.klet.org/?stranka=klenot&menu_id=4&uroven=2>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/AC105_C1_2011_CRP12E.pdf>.

S.C. Werner, A.W. Harris, G. Neukum, B.A. Ivanov, 2002, Icarus, 156, 287, "The Near-Earth Asteroid size-frequency distribution: a snapshot of the Lunar impactor size-frequency distribution." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..156..287W>.

J. Spitale, R. Greenberg, 2002, Icarus, 156, 211, "Numerical evaluation of the general Yarkovsky effect: effects on eccentricity and longitude of periapse." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..156..211S>.

2002, Mar 8

Asteroid 2002 EM7 (H = 24.3 mag, D ≈ 50 m) passed Earth at 1.2 LD, and Moon at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002+EM7+&orb=1>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=114>.

2002, Mar 12

NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL puts its SENTRY automatic approach monitoring system on-line, complementary to the NEODyS CLOMON2 (Pisa, Italy) close approach monitoring system.
Ref:
-  A.B. Chamberlin, S.R. Chesley, P.W. Chodas, J.D. Giorgini, M.S. Keesey, R.N. Wimberly, D.K. Yeomans, 2001, Bull. Am. Astron. Soc., "SENTRY: an automated close approach monitoring system for Near-Earth Objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001DPS....33.4108C>.
See also: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news126.html>,  <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=110>.

W.F. Bottke, A. Morbidelli, R. Jedicke, et al., 2002, Icarus, 156, 399, "Debiased orbital and absolute magnitude distribution of the Near-Earth Objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..156..399B>.

E.F. Tedesco, F.-X. Desert, 2002, Astronomical Journal, 123, 2070, "The Infrared Space Observatory deep asteroid search." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AJ....123.2070T>.

S.N. Ward, 2002, Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets), 107, Issue E4, pp. 7, "Planetary cratering: a probabilistic approach." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002JGRE..107.5023W>.

2002, Apr

UK Near Earth Object Information Centre (NEOIC) operational, based at the British National Space Center in Leicester (UK). See: <www.bnsc.gov.uk/>, <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_863Add1E.pdf>.  

J.N. Spitale, 2002, Science, 296, 77, "Asteroid hazard mitigation using the Yarkovsky effect." See: <www.sciencemag.org/content/296/5565/77.full?sid=e6448a4d-56dc-4871-9350-473e46679372>.

Neuschwanstein meteorite detected by the European Fireball Network. Fell to Earth near Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, at the Germany-Austria border.  The original meteorite burst into several fragments at a height of about 22 kilometers above the ground. The fragments descended on an area of several square kilometers. Three fragments were recovered with a total mass of about six kilograms.
Ref:
-  P. Spurný, J. Oberst, D. Heinlein, 2003, Nature, 423, 151, "Photographic observations of Neuschwanstein, a second meteorite from the orbit of the Příbram  chondrite." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Natur.423..151S>;
-  J. Oberst, D. Heinlein, U. Köhler, P. Spurný, 2004, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 39, 1627, "The multiple meteorite fall of Neuschwanstein: Circumstances of the event and meteorite search campaigns". See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004M%26PS...39.1627O>.
See also: <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_(meteorite)>.

Asteroid 2004 JG6 (H = 18.5 mag, D ≈ 800 m, PHA) passed Earth at 16.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+JG6+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_JG6>.
This NEA has the smallest orbit known around the Sun.
See also: <www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-04g.html>, <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004S%26T...108c..18M>.

European Science Foundation Research Networking Programme Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes (IMPACT), Short Course on Impact Stratigraphy, Osservatorio Geologico do Coldigioco (Italy). See: <www.esf.org/activities/research-networking-programmes/life-earth-and-environmental-sciences-lesc/completed-esf-research-networking-programmes-in-life-earth-and-environmental-sciences/response-of-the-earth-system-to-impact-processes-impact/science-meetings.html>.

2002, May 17-19

Meeting on Asteroids and Comets in Europe, Visnjan (Croatia). See: <www.astro.hr/mace2002/>.

J.-L. Margot, M.C. Nolan, L.A.M. Benner, et al., 2002, Science, 296, 1445, "Binary asteroids in the Near-Earth Object population." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Sci...296.1445M>.

European Science Foundation Research Networking Programme Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes (IMPACT), Workshop on Impact Tectonism, Mora (Sweden). See: <www.esf.org/activities/research-networking-programmes/life-earth-and-environmental-sciences-lesc/completed-esf-research-networking-programmes-in-life-earth-and-environmental-sciences/response-of-the-earth-system-to-impact-processes-impact/science-meetings.html>.

V. Zappalà, A. Cellino, A., Dell'Oro, 2002, Icarus, 157, 280, "A search for the collisional parent bodies of large NEAs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..157..280Z>.

2002, Jun 6

Eastern Mediterranean Fireball. Estimated ~ 10m object exploded in mid-air between Libya and Crete. See: <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_object>.

2002, Jun 14

Asteroid 2002 MN (H = 23.3 mag, D ≈ 80 m) passed Earth at 0.3 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002+MN&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_MN>.
Ref:
-  D. Morrison, C.R. Chapman, D. Steel, R.P. Binzel, 2004, in: M.J.S. Belton, et al. (eds.), 2004, Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids (Cambridge: CUP), p. 353, "Impacts and the public: communicating the nature of impact hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004mhca.conf..353M>;
-  B.G. Marsden, 2007, in: P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer), p. 505, "Impact risk communication management (1998 – 2004): Has it improved?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=114>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=116> , <www.planetary.org/news/2002/0624_The_Close_Call_that_was_Asteroid_2002.html>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050417.html>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=avoiding-the-impact>.

E.F. Tedesco, M.P. Egan, S.D. Price, 2002, Astronomical Journal, 124, 583, "The Midcourse Space Experiment infrared minor planet survey." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AJ....124..583T>.

USAF General Simon Worden, 2011, speech: "Military perspectives on the Near-Earth Object (NEO) threat." See: <www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=8834>.

R. Schoenberg, B.S. Kamber, K.D. Collerson, S. Moorbath, 2002, Nature, 418, 403, "Tungsten isotope evidence from 3.8 Gyr metamorphosed sediments for early meteorite bombardment of the Earth". See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Natur.418..403S>.

2002, Jul 29 – Aug 2

International conference on Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, VIII, Berlin (Germany). Proceedings: B. Warmbein (ed.), 2002, Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2002, ESA-SP 500 (Noordwijk: ESA). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500.....W>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=118>.

C.A. Angeli, D. Lazzaro, 2002, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 391, 757, "Spectral properties of Mars-crossers and near-Earth objects. Results of the S³OS² survey." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002A%26A...391..757A>.
S³OS² : Small Solar System Objects  Spectroscopic Survey – carried out at the ESO (La Silla, Chile). See also: <sbn.psi.edu/pds/resource/s3os2.html>.

S.P. Kelley, E. Gurov, 2002, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 37, 1031, "The Boltysh, another end-Cretaceous impact." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002M%26PS...37.1031K>, <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3306656.html?page=1&c=y>.

A. Morbidelli, R. Jedicke, W.F. Bottke, et al., 2002, Icarus, 158, 329, " From magnitudes to diameters: the albedo distribution of Near Earth Objects and the Earth collision hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..158..329M>.

D.K. Yeomans, E. Asphaug, W.F. Bottke, et al., 2002, in: M.V. Sykes (ed.), The Future of Solar System Exploration 2003 – 2013, Community Contributions to the NRC Solar System Exploration Decadal Survey, ASP-CS, 272, 105, "Near-Earth Objects: discovery, tracking, and characterization." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ASPC..272..105Y>.

D.W.G. Sears, C.C. Allen, D.T. Britt, et al., 2002, in: M.V. Sykes (ed.), The Future of Solar System Exploration 2003 – 2013, Community Contributions to the NRC Solar System Exploration Decadal Survey, ASP-CS, 272, 111, "Near-Earth asteroid sample return." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ASPC..272..111S>.

T.D. Jones, D.R. Davis, D.D. Durda, et al., 2002, in: M.V. Sykes (ed.), The Future of Solar System Exploration 2003 – 2013, Community Contributions to the NRC Solar System Exploration Decadal Survey, ASP-CS, 272, 141, "The next giant leap: human exploration and utilization of Near-Earth Objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ASPC..272..141J>.

2002, Aug 18

Asteroid 2002 NY40 (H = 19.2 mag, D ≈ 500 m, PHA) passed Earth at 1.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002+NY40+&orb=>.
Ref:
-  R.W. Sinnott, 23 July 2003, Sky & Telescope, "Hefty asteroid to sweep near Earth." See: <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3306351.html >;
- L.C. Roberts, D.T. Hall, J.V. Lambert, et al., 2007, Icarus, 192, 469, "Characterization of the near-Earth asteroid 2002 NY40." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..192..469R>; 
- J.M. Trigo-Rodríguez, E. Lyytinen, D.C. Jones, et al., 2007, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 382, 1933, "Asteroid 2002 NY40 as a source of meteorite-dropping bolides." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007MNRAS.382.1933T>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=115>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020817.html>, <www.planetary.org/news/2002/0802_Your_Chance_to_See_a_NEO.html>.

A.L. Cione, E.P. Tonni, J. San Cristobál, et al., 2002, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 91(1), 9, "Putative meteoritic craters in Río Cuarto (Central Argentina) interpreted as Eolian structures." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002EM%26P...91....9C>.

2002, Sep 3-6

NASA Workshop on Scientific Requirements for Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids, Arlington (VA, USA). Proceedings: M.J.S. Belton, T.H. Morgan, N. Samarasinha & D.K. Yeomans (eds.), 2004, Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids (Cambridge: CUP). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004mhca.conf.....B>.
See also: <www.noao.edu/meetings/mitigation/format.html>, <www.noao.edu./meetings/mitigation/media/arlington.extended.pdf>. Final report: <www.noao.edu/meetings/mitigation/report.html>. Summary: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=121 >.

2002, Sep 25

Vitim Fireball event. Believed to be an impact by a bolide or comet nucleus in the Vitim River basin, near Bodaybo (Mamsko-chuisky district, Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, Russia). Explosion energy estimates range from 0.2 to 5 kT. See: <www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Meteorite>,  <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitim_event>.

A. Carusi, G.B. Valsecchi, G. D'Abramo, et al., 2002, Icarus, 159, 417, "Deflecting NEOs in route of collision with Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..159..417C>.

2002, Oct

S.R. Chesley, P.W. Chodas, A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi, D.K. Yeomans, D.K., 2002, Icarus, 159, 423, "Quantifying the risk posed by potential Earth impacts." Defining the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..159..423C>, <www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103502969101>.
See also: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/doc/palermo.html>.

2002, Oct 3

U.S. Congressional Hearing: "The Threat of Near-Earth Asteroids." See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=119>.

2002, Oct 7

B612 Foundation officially established by Clark R. Chapman, Piet Hut, Ed T. Lu, and Russell L. Schweickart. Goal: to significantly alter the orbit of an asteroid, in a controlled manner, by 2015. A private California non-profit foundation. See: <www.b612foundation.org/> .

European Science Foundation Research Networking Programme Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes (IMPACT), Workshop on Impacts: a Geological and Astronomical Perspective, Prague (Czech Republic). See: <www.esf.org/activities/research-networking-programmes/life-earth-and-environmental-sciences-lesc/completed-esf-research-networking-programmes-in-life-earth-and-environmental-sciences/response-of-the-earth-system-to-impact-processes-impact/science-meetings.html>.

C.A. Glatz, D.H. Abbott, A.A. Nunes, 2002, in: 2002 Denver Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Denver, (CO, USA), 27-30 October 2002, paper no. 178-7, "A possible source crater for the Eltanin impact layer." See: <gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002AM/finalprogram/abstract_45134.htm>.

F. Bernardi, A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, 2002, in B. Warmbein (ed.), 2002, Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors - ACM 2002, 29 July - 2 August 2002, Berlin (Germany), ESA SP-500, p. 801, "The Campo Imperatore Near Earth Objects Survey (CINEOS)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500.....W>.

M.H.M. Morais, A. Morbidelli, 2002, Icarus, 160, 1, "The population of Near-Earth Asteroids in coorbital motion with the Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Icar..160....1M>.

R.P. Binzel, 2002, in: B. Warmbein (ed.), Proc. Intern. Conf. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors - ACM 2002, 29 July - 2 August 2002, Berlin (Germany), ESA SP-500 (Noordwijk: ESA), p. 5, "Asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt objects, meteors: the ACM (AKM) 2002 perspective." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500....5B>.

M. Leipold, A. von Richter, G. Hahn, et al., 2002, in: B. Warmbein (ed.), Proc. Intern. Conf.  Asteroids, Comets, Meteors - ACM 2002, 29 July - 2 August 2002, Berlin (Germany), ESA SP-500  (Noordwijk: ESA), p. 107, "Earthguard-I: a NEO detection space mission." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500..107L>.

M. Delbò, A.W. Harris, R. Binzel, et al., 2002, in: B. Warmbein (ed.), Proc. Intern. Conf. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors - ACM 2002, 29 July - 2 August 2002, Berlin (Germany), ESA SP-500  (Noordwijk: ESA), p. 891, "Surveying near-Earth asteroids in the thermal infrared." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500..891D>.

J. de Léon, M. Serra-Ricart, J. Licandro, L., Dominiguez, 2002, in: B. Warmbein (ed.), Proc. Intern. Conf. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors - ACM 2002, 29 July - 2 August 2002, Berlin (Germany), ESA SP-500 (Noordwijk: ESA), p. 911, "Monitoring and physical characterization of Near Earth Objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002ESASP.500..911D>.

2002, Nov 2

NASA spacecraft Stardust flew within 3300 km of inner mainbelt asteroid 5535 Annefrank (1942 EM, H = 14.2 mag, D = 6.6 × 5.0 × 3.4 km).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1942+EM&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5535_Annefrank>.
Ref:
-  J.K. Hillier, J.M. Bauer, B.J. Buratti, 2011, Icarus, 211, 546, "Photometric modelling of asteroid 5535 Annefrank from Stardust." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..211..546H>.

P. Brown, R.E. Spalding, D.O. ReVelle, et al., 2002, Nature, 420, 294, "The flux of small near-Earth objects colliding with the Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Natur.420..294B>.
See also: M. Dimartino, A. Cellino, 2004, in:  M.J.S. Belton, et al. (eds.), Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids (Cambridge: CUP), p. 153, "Physical properties of comets and asteroids inferred from fireball observations." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004mhca.conf..153D>.
See also: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=satellites-track-near-ear>.

J.N. Head, H.J. Melosh, B.A. Ivanov, 2002, Science, 298, 1752, "Martian meteorite launch: high-speed ejecta from small craters." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Sci...298.1752H>.

A. Cellino, V. Zappala, E.F. Tedesco, 2002, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 37, 1965, "Near-Earth objects: origins and need of physical characterization." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002M%26PS...37.1965C>.

A.W. Harris, E.L.G. Bowell, 2002, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, 1174, "NEO observations with LSST: populations and survey completeness." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AAS...201.4518H>.

E.L.G. Bowell, A.W. Harris, 2002, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, 1318, "Hunting for Near-Earth Asteroids using LSST: detection methods and observational strategies." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AAS...20113404B>.

2002, Dec 11

Asteroid 2002 XV90 (H = 25.2 mag, D ≈ 35 m) passed Earth at 0.3 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002+XV90+&orb=1>.

2166 NEAs known, of which 469 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

Sir Martin Rees, 2003, Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning: How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future In This Century – On Earth and Beyond (New York: Basic Books), p. 89, "Chapter 7. Baseline natural hazards. Asteroid impacts." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003ofhs.book.....R>.

T. Palmer, 2003, Perilous planet Earth: catastrophes and catastrophism through the ages (Cambridge: CUP). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003ppe..book.....P>.

E. Asphaug, D. Korycansky, S. Ward, 2003, EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 84, 339, "Exploring ocean waves from asteroid impacts." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003EOSTr..84..339A>.

A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, G. Forti, 2003, Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana, 74, 864, "The importance of Near Earth Object detections on archival images: recent results and future potential." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003MmSAI..74..864B>.

R. Jedicke, A. Morbidelli, T. Spahr, et al., 2003, Icarus, 161, 17, "Earth- and space-based NEO survey simulations: prospects for achieving the Spaceguard Goal." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Icar..161...17J>.

D. Morrison, 2003, Astrobiology, 3, 193, "Impacts and evolution: future prospects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003AsBio...3..193M>.

2003, Jan

In the context of ESA NEO space mission preparations, ESA presented the mission study report for Smallsat Intercept Missions to Objects Near Earth (SIMONE). See: <www.esa.int/gsp/completed/neo/simone.html>, <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_863Add1E.pdf>.

2003, Jan 8

Asteroid 2002 AA29 (H = 24.1 mag, D ≈ 60 m) passed Earth at 15.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002+AA29+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_AA29>.
See also: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news137.html>.

R.L. Schweickart, 2003, "The need for a United Nations asteroid deflection treaty to establish a system for trustworthy mission design and execution." See: <www.b612foundation.org/papers/OECD_trustworthy.pdf>.

C.R. Chapman, 2003, in: OECD Global Science Forum Workshop Near Earth Objects: Risk, Policies and Actions, Frascati (Italy) 20-22 January 2003, "How a Near-Earth Object impact might affect society." See: <www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/40/2493218.pdf>.

2003, Jan 20-22

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Paris, France) Global Science Forum Workshop on Near Earth Objects: Risk, Policies and Actions, hosted by ESRIN, Frascati (Italy). Final report of 11 August 2004. See: <www.iau.org/static/publications/IB93.pdf>, p. 13, "NEO-related activities".
The Workshop stated:
• “.. assess the NEO hazard as it relates to public safety, determine the commensurate level of response, and undertake appropriate actions at national and international levels.”
• “.. each government that has not already done so consider designating a responsible official (office, administration, etc.) within the government, tasked with following the ever-growing body of knowledge about NEO impacts, and, where appropriate, advising the government regarding the implications for public safety of the NEO risk.
• “explore strategies for mitigating the impact of a range of characteristic NEOs, identifying the scientific, technical, legal and policy implications of mounting a NEO negation mission..”
Ref:
-  D. Morrison, C.R. Chapman, D. Steel, R.P. Binzel, 2004, in: M.J.S. Belton, et al. (eds.), 2004, Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids (Cambridge: CUP), p. 353, "Impacts and the public: communicating the nature of impact hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004mhca.conf..353M>.
See also: <www.oecd.org/document/17/0,3343,en_2649_34319_2767633_1_1_1_1,00.html>, <oecd.org/dataoecd/39/40/2503992.pdf>, <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html>, #1>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=124>.

2003, Feb

Lowell Observatory (Flagstaff, AZ, USA) and Discovery Communications formed a partnership to build the 4.2m Discovery Channel Telescope. First light expected by the end of 2010.
Ref:
-  E. Bowell, R.L. Millis, E.W. Dunham, et al., 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), Proc. IAU Symposium No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 363, "Searching for NEOs using the Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..363B>.

D.W. Hughes, 2003, Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society, 338, 999, "The approximate ratios between the diameters of terrestrial impact craters and the causative incident asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003MNRAS.338..999H>.

P. Michel, W. Benz, D.C. Richardson, 2003, Nature, 421, 608, "Disruption of fragmented parent bodies as the origin of asteroid families." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Natur.421..608M>.

Great Impact Debates, Astrobiology Magazine, 10 February 2003, "The benefits of hard bodies." See: <www.astrobio.net/debate/373/the-benefits-of-hard-bodies>.

First discovery of an IEO asteroid: 163693 Atira (2003 CP20, H = 16.3, D ≈ 2 km), by the LINEAR team. Atira is the Pawnee goddess of Earth and the evening star. This is the first numbered minor planet to have an orbit completely interior to that of the Earth. See: <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/163693_Atira>.

2003, Feb 14

Symposium on The Asteroid/Comet Impact Hazard: A Decade of Growing Awareness, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Denver (CO, USA), marking the 10^th anniversary of the Spaceguard Report. See: <www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/0122am.shtml>,  <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=122>.

Great Impact Debates, Astrobiology Magazine, 17 February 2003, "Much ado about nothing?" See: <www.astrobio.net/debate/378/much-ado-about-nothing>.

Great Impact Debates, Astrobiology Magazine, 24 February 2003, "The large and the small" See: <www.astrobio.net/debate/382/the-large-and-the-small>.

Great Impact Debates, Astrobiology Magazine, 3 March 2003, "Collision course for Earth" See: <www.astrobio.net/debate/389/collision-course-for-earth>.

M. Belló, J.A. González, A. Milani, G. Valsecchi, P. Paolicchi, et al., 2003, NEO-DMS-EXS, "Near Earth Objects space mission preparation: Don Quijote mission executive summary." ESA study contract. See: <www.esa.int/gsp/completed/neo/donquijote_execsum.pdf>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=144>, <www.space.com/12781-space-missions-deflect-dangerous-asteroids-apophis.html>.

2003, Mar 16

Technical workshop Tsunami Hazard Workshop, Houston (TX, USA). See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=123>.

2003, Mar 27

Park Forest Fireball and Meteorite. Bolide entering the Earth atmosphere over Park Forest (Il, USA) south of Chicago, detected by US Department of Energy and Department of Defense satellites.  Estimated initial NEA diameter D ≈ 1.8 m, estimated initial mass M  ≈ 11,000 kg.
Ref:
-  P. Brown, D. Pack, W.N. Edwards, et al., 2004, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 39, 1781, "The orbit, atmospheric dynamics, and initial mass of the Park Forest Meteorite." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004M%26PS...39.1781B>. See also:  <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030506.html>, <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050724.html>.

European Science Foundation Research Networking Programme Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes (IMPACT), Workshop on Biological Processes in Impact Craters, Cambridge (UK). See: <www.esf.org/activities/research-networking-programmes/life-earth-and-environmental-sciences-lesc/completed-esf-research-networking-programmes-in-life-earth-and-environmental-sciences/response-of-the-earth-system-to-impact-processes-impact/science-meetings.html>.

ICSU workshop on NEOs in Paris (France) with IAU, IUGG, IUGS, COSPAR, SCOR, SCOPE, and the USA, as well as the OECD GSF. See: <www.iau.org/static/publications/IB93.pdf>, p. 13, "NEO-related activities".

2003, Apr 29

Asteroid 2003 HW10 (H = 26.9 mag, D ≈ 15m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2003+HW10+&orb=1>.

A. Morbidelli, D. Vokrouhlický, 2003, Icarus, 163, 120, "The Yarkovsky-driven origin of near-Earth asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Icar..163..120M>.

2003, May 1-4

Meeting on Asteroids and Comets in Europe, Costitx (Mallorca, Spain). See: <www.minorplanets.org/MACE2003/>.

G. Masi, 2003, Icarus, 163, 389, "Searching for inner-Earth objects: a possible ground-based approach." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Icar..163..389M>.

A. Milani, 2003, Science, 300, 1882, "Extraterrestrial material – virtual or real hazards?" See: <www.sciencemag.org/content/300/5627/1882.summary?sid=e377c0b3-994a-4614-bc70-5ee36edb563c>.

S. Nadis, 2003, Scientific American, 14 July 2003, "Keeper of the objects." … With a shoestring budget, asteroid and comet watcher Brian Marsden looks out for Armageddon from the skies – and not without controversy… . See: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=keeper-of-the-objects>.

2003, Jul 22

IAU XXV General Assembly, Sydney (Australia). Division III Working Group on Near-Earth Objects (WG-NEO) meeting. Report by David Morrison, chair WG-NEO.
Ref:
-  D. Morrision, 2007, in: O. Engvold (ed.), 2007, Transactions IAU XXVB (San Francisco: ASP), p. 131, "Working Group on Near-Earth Objects." See: <www.astrosociety.org/astroshop/index.php?p=product&id=119&parent=8>.

2003, Jul 23

IAU XXV General Assembly, Sydney (Australia). Joint Discussion 10 on Physical Properties and Morphology of Small Solar System Bodies. In: O. Engvold (ed.), 2005, Highlights of Astronomy, Vol. 13 (San Francisco: ASP), p. 721. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005HiA....13.....E>, <www.iau.org/science/publications/iau/highlights/>.

J.M. Trigo-Rodriguez, J. Llorca, J. Borovicka, J. Fabregat, 2003, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 38, 1283, "Chemical abundances determined from meteor spectra. I. Ratios of the main chemical elements." See: <onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2003.tb00313.x/abstract>.

2003, Aug 22

NASA NEO Science Definition Team (SDT) report Study to Determine the Feasibility of Extending the Search for Near-Earth Objects to Smaller Limiting Diameters, G.H. Stokes, D.K. Yeomans, et al. (eds.), NASA Office of Space Science, Solar System Exploration Division, Washington DC, USA (2003). See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/report.html>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/neoreport030825.pdf>. Summary: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=131>.

E. Asphaug, 2003, Scientific American, 13, 44, "The small planets." See: <81.70.242.211/.../Scientific%20American/.../ ...>.

2003, Sep 19

Asteroid 2003 SW130 (H = 29.1 mag, D ≈ 5m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2003+SW130&orb=1>.

2003, Sep 27

Asteroid 2003 SQ222 (H = 30.0 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2003+SW130&orb=1>.
The asteroid will make another close approach on 28 September 2149.
See also: <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031015.html>, <www.newscientist.com/article/dn4228-closest-asteroid-yet-flies-past-earth.html>, <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3308176.html>, <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3308176.html>.

2003, Oct 12

Asteroid 2003 UM3 (H = 28.0 mag, D ≈ 9 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2003+UM3+&orb=1>.

2003, Oct 15

Asteroid 69230 Hermes (1937 UB, H = 17.5 mag, PHA) re-discovered. Binary asteroid, each D ≈ 300 m, separation = 1200 m, P = 778 d.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1937+UB&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/69230_Hermes>.
See also: <www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Oct03/Arecibo.asteroid.deb.html>, <science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/31oct_hermes.htm>.

W.T. Huntress, 2003, statement  before the Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives, "The future of human space flight". Advocating inter alia a one-year human mission to a Near Earth Object. See: <www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house/pdf/108hrg/89892.pdf>, <www.planetary.org/programs/projects/aim_for_mars/testimony_huntress_2003.html>.

D. Morrison, 2003, Mercury, 32, no. 6, p. 15, "Commentary: are astronomers crying wolf?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Mercu..32f..15M>.

2003, Nov

R.L. Schweickart, E.T. Lu, P. Hut, C.R. Chapman, 2003, Scientific American, 13 October 2003, "The Asteroid Tugboat." See: <scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-asteroid-tugboat>.
See also: 
<www.secureworldfoundation.org/siteadmin/images/files/file_97.pdf>, <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html> #3, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/AT-GT.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=130>.

M. Delbò, A.W. Harris, R.P. Binzel, et al., 2003, Icarus, 166, 166, "Keck observations of near-Earth asteroids in the thermal infrared." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Icar..166..116D>.

A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, H. Scholl, O.R. Hainaut, R. West, G. Hahn, R. Michelsen, G. Forti, P. Pravec, G.B. Valsecchi, 2003, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 93, 239, "Eliminating virtual impactors with the Very Large Telescope: an ESO program with the FORS2 camera." See:
<adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003EM%26P...93..239B>.

S.R. Chesley, A.W. Harris, D.K. Yeomans, S.N. Ward, 2003, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #P51E-01, "An updated assessment of the hazard due to Earth impacts." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003AGUFM.P51E..01C>.

S.R. Chesley, S.J. Ostro, D. Vokrouhlický, et al., Science, 302, 1739, "Direct detection of the Yarkovsky Effect by radar ranging to asteroid 6489 Golevka."
6489 Golevka, 1991 JX, H = 19.2 mag, D ≈ 530 m, NEA, PHA.
See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Sci...302.1739C>. See also: <www.spacegeneration.org/index.php/eventstopics/news/227-sgac-announces-the-winner-of-the-2010-move-an-asteroid-competition>, <www.spacegeneration.org/images/stories/Projects/NEO/Corbin_Asteroid_Paper.pdf>.

2003, Dec 6

Asteroid 2003 XJ7 (H = 26.3 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2003+XJ7+&orb=1>.

2604 NEAs known, of which 552 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

D. Sears, C. Allen, D. Britt, et al., 2004, Advances in Space Research, 34, 2270, "The Hera mission: multiple near-earth asteroid sample return." See: <www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117704005198>, <www.uark.edu/misc/hera/>.

The international yearbook Ephemerides of minor planets (EMP), published since 1948 for the International Astronomical Union by the Institute of Applied Astronomy (IAA) in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation), contains information on orbital elements of numbered minor planets and the circumstances of their observations during the best observation periods. Starting in 2004 the IAA publishes the EMP in a reduced volume with information on a limited number of minor planets, together with a CD with data for all numbered planets. See: <www.ipa.nw.ru/PAGE/DEPFUND/LSBSS/engephem.htm>.

2004, Jan

ESA international Near-Earth Object Mission Advisory Panel (NEOMAP) established. NEOMAP was charged with the task of advising ESA on cost-effective options for ESA participation in a space mission to contribute to our understanding of the physical nature of near-Earth asteroids and their terrestrial impact hazard. See: <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/NEO/SEM4Q7OVGJE_0.html>, <ebooks.worldscinet.com/ISBN/9789812701787/9789812701787_0021.html>.

Villabeto de la Peña superbolide (Villabeto, Spain). Chondrite meteorites found.
Ref:
- J. Llorca, J.M. Trigo-Rodríguez, J.L. Ortiz, et al., 2005, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40, 795, "The Villabeto de la Peña meteorite fall: I. Fireball energy, meteorite recovery, strewn field, and petrography." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005M%26PS...40..795L>;
- J.M. Trigo-Rodríguez, J. Boroviƒça, P. Spurný, et al., 2006, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 41, 505, "Villabeto de la Peña meteorite fall: II. Determination of atmospheric trajectory and orbit." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005M%26PS...41..505T>, <onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2006.tb00478.x/abstract>.
See also: <www.spmn.uji.es/ENG/presentation.html>.

2004, Jan 13

Asteroid AL00667 (2004 AS1, H = 20.4, D ≈ 300 m, PHA)  discovered and initially thought to be heading for potential (10 - 25%) Earth impact within 24 hours. Questions were raised re who should be notified and whether or not such notice should be raised to Presidential level. Fortunate late telescopic view by amateur astronomer in the UK found that NEO not on impact trajectory. Czech observation following night demonstrated that the asteroid passed Earth on 16 February 2004 at 33.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+AS1&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_AS1>.
Ref:
-  B.G. Marsden, 2007, in: P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer), p. 505, "Impact risk communication management (1998 – 2004): Has it improved?"  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>.
See also: <www.planetarydefense.info/resources/pdf/chapman.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=135>, <b612foundation.org/papers/Chapman_AIAA.pdf>.

2004, Feb 23-26

2004 Planetary Defense Conference Protecting Earth from Asteroids, Garden Grove (CA, USA), sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and The Aerospace Corporation. Summary in White Paper. See: <www.planetarydefense.info/>, <www.planetarydefense.info/resources/pdf/conference_white_paper.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=136>,  <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=139>, <www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-03-11-asteroid-menace_x.htm>.

C.R. Chapman, 2004, presented at AIAA 2004 Planetary Defense Conference Protecting Earth from Asteroids, Garden Grove (CA, USA), "NEO impact scenarios." See: <www.b612foundation.org/papers/Chapman_AIAA.pdf>.

D.K. Lynch, G.E. Peterson, 2004, presented at AIAA 2004 Planetary Defense Conference Protecting Earth from Asteroids, Garden Grove (CA, USA), "Athos, Porthos, Aramis, & D'Artagnon: four planning scenarios for planetary protection." See: <www.planetarydefense.info/resources/pdf/lynch.pdf>.

R.P. Binzel, E. Perozzi, A.S. Rivkin, A. Rossi, A.W. Harris, S.J. Bus, G.B. Valsecchi, S.M. Slivan, 2004, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 39, 351, "Dynamical and compositional assessment of near-Earth object mission targets." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004M%26PS...39..351B>.

S.J. Ostro, L.A.M. Benner, M.C. Nolan, et al., 2004, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 39, 407, "Radar observations of asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004M%26PS...39..407O>.

K. Petreshock, D. Abbott, C. Glatz, 2004, in: 35th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 15-19 March 2004, League City (TX, USA), abstract no.1364, "Continental impact debris in the Eltanin impact layer." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004LPI....35.1364P>.

2004, Mar 18

Asteroid 2004 FH (H = 26.2 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.128 LD (= 49,100 km = 7.71 R_Earth from the geocenter).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+FH+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_FH>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=137>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news142.html>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040322.html>.

A. La Spina, P. Paolicchi, A. Kryszczyńska, P. Pravec, 2004, Nature, 428, 400, "Retrograde spins of near-Earth asteroids from the Yarkovsky effect." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004Natur.428..400L>.

2004, Mar 27

Asteroid 2004 FY15 (H = 26.1 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+FY15+&orb=1>.

2004, Mar 31

Asteroid 2004 FU162 (H = 28.7 mag, D ≈ 6 m) passed Earth at 0.034 LD (= 12,910 km = 2.03 R_Earth from the geocenter).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+FU162+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_FU162>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=145>.

2004, Apr

Catalina Sky Survey brings a 0.5 m Schmidt telescope on-line at Siding Spring (Australia) for a southern hemisphere NEO search effort. See: <uanews.org/node/23277>.

2004, Apr 7

NASA astronauts Russell L. Schweickart and Ed T. Lu on deflecting NEAs. Testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, dealing with defense against asteroid impacts. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=140>, <www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/congress/2004_h/040407-schweickart.htm>.

2004, Apr 18

Asteroid 2004 HE (H = 26.8 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+HE+&orb=1>.

A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, H. Scholl, et al., 2004, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 418, 743, "Near Earth Asteroid search and follow-up beyond 22nd magnitude. A pilot program with ESO telescopes." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004A%26A...418..743B>.

Stokes, G., 2004, American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #P11A-03, "A study to determine the feasibility of extending the search for NEOs to smaller limiting diameters: report of a NASA Science Definition Team." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004AGUSM.P11A..03S>.

2004, May 15

C.R. Chapman, 2004, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 222, 1, "The hazard of Near-Earth Asteroid impacts on Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004E%26PSL.222....1C>.
See also: <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html>, #5, <www.sciencemag.org/content/304/5674/1081.1.full?sid=7557ae29-dd09-49f2-8140-b0fc461e288d>.

A. Cheng, 2004, Space Daily, 25 May 2004, "One giant leap on an asteroid." See: <www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-04f.html>.

2004, May 27-30

Meeting on Asteroids and Comets in Europe, Fraso Sabino (Italy). See: <www.ara.roma.it/eng/div/specials.htm>.

Nordic Near-Earth Object Network (NEON) started operations with the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain), running till September 2006.
Ref:
-  K. Muinonen, J. Torpa, J Virtanen, et al., 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 309, "Spins, shapes and orbits for near-Earth objects by Nordic NEON." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..309M>.

L. Becker, R.J. Poreda, A.R. Basu, et al., 2004, Science, 304, 1469, "Bedout, a possible end-Permian impact crater offshore of Northwestern Australia." See: <www.sciencemag.org/content/304/5676/1469.abstract?sid=78e2e4f7-3397-4d09-b789-98f4799cf917>.

2004, Jun 19

Asteroid 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4, H = 19.7 mag, D ≈ 270 m,M ≈ 2.7 × 10¹⁰ kg, orbital P = 0.89 yr, PHA) discovered, initially considered a serious impact probability. Later re-assessments gradually reduced the risk. On 13 April 2029 fly-by at a nominal miss distance of 0.099 LD (= 38,070 km = 5.97 R_Earth from the geocenter) with a relative velocity of 7.4 km/s. Minimum miss distance 0.098 LD. Next close approach in 2036, with collision risk of 1: 250.000.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+MN4&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis>.
Ref:
- A.M. MacRobert, 15 February 2005, Sky & Telescope, "Asteroid 2004 MN4: a really near miss!" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005S%26T...109e..16M>;
- D. Chandler, 2005, New Scientist,25 June 2005, issue 2505, "Killer asteroid: too close for comfort"; See: <www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625051.200-killer-asteroid-too-close-for-comfort.html>;
- B.G. Marsden, 2007, in: P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer), p. 505, "Impact risk communication management (1998 – 2004): Has it improved?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>;
- J.D. Giorgini, L. Benner, S.J. Ostro, et al., 2008, Icarus, 193, 1, "Predicting the Earth encounters of (99942) Apophis" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..193....1G>;
- S.R. Chesley, A. Milani, D. Tholen, et al., 2009, AAS-DPS, 41.4306, "An updated assessment of the impact threat from 99942 Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009DPS....41.4306C>;
- J. Žižka, D. Vokrouhlický, 2011, Icarus, 211, 511, "Solar radiation pressure on (99942) Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..211..511Z >.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=154>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=157>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=161>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=165>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news164.html>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2332>, <www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625051.200-killer-asteroid-too-close-for-comfort.html>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-45.pdf>, <content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/11/apophis-asteroid-2013/1>.

J.K. Beatty, 2004, Sky & Telescope, "Killer asteroids: the count rises." See: <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3304491.html?page=1&c=y>.

2004, Jul 9

ESA report The Near-Earth Object Impact Hazard: Space Mission Priorities for Risk Assessment and Reduction. recommendations to ESA by the Near-Earth Object Mission Advisory Panel (NEOMAP), by A.W. Harris, W. Benz, A. Fitzsimmons, A. Galvez, S.F. Green, P. Michel, and G.B. Valsecchi.See: <www.esa.int/gsp/NEO/doc/NEOMAP_report_June23_wCover.pdf>.

A Cosmic Study by the International Academy of Astronautics, final report "The next steps in exploring deep space", advocating inter alia the exploration of Near Earth Asteroids by human spaceflight. See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/strategies/AdvisoryGroupReports/iaa_report.pdf>.

P.R. Heck, B. Schmitz, H. Baur, A.N. Halliday, R. Wieler, 2004, Nature, 430, 323, "Fast delivery of meteorites to Earth after a major asteroid collision." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004Natur.430..323H>.

2004, Jul 16

Asteroid 2004 OD4 (H = 26.9 mag, D ≈ 15m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+OD4+&orb=1>.

R.P. Binzel, A.S. Rivkin, J.S. Stuart, et al., 2004, Icarus, 170, 259, "Observed spectral properties of near-Earth objects: results for population distribution, source regions, and space weathering processes." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004Icar..170..259B>.

J.S. Stuart, R.P. Binzel, 2004, Icarus, 170, 295, "Bias-corrected population, size distribution, and impact hazard for the near-Earth objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004Icar..170..259B>.

D.J. Scheeres, F. Marzari, A. Rossi, 2004, Icarus, 170, 312, "Evolution of NEO rotation rates due to close encounters with Earth and Venus." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004Icar..170..312S>.

Perseid Fireball over Japan. See: <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040813.html>.

Asteroid 2004 QA22 (H = 27.9 mag, D ≈ 9 m) passed Earth at 2.5 LD. The asteroid will make another close approach with Earth on 24 August 2130.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+QA22+&orb=1>.
See also: <www.hohmanntransfer.com/mn/0408/29.htm>, <www.hohmanntransfer.com/mn/0409/05.htm>.

2004, Aug 31 - Sep 4

IAU Colloquium No. 197 on Dynamics of Populations of Planetary Systems, Belgrado (Serbia & Montenegro). Proceedings: Z. Knežević & A. Milani (eds.), 2005, Dynamics of Populations of Planetary Systems (Cambridge: CUP). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005dpps.conf.....K>.

2004, Sep 3

Antarctica Fireball. United States Department of Defense (DoD) space-based infrared sensors detected a large meteor in flight at an altitude of approximately 75 km at on 3 September 2004 at latitude 67.72° S, longitude 16.89° E. Space-based Department of Energy (DoE) visible light sensors also detected the fireball. The emissive debris trail from the fireball extended from 56 – 18 km altitude and remained detectable at infrared wavelengths owing to solar scattering for over an hour. Two distinct disintegration features were visible along the path, at 32 km and 25 km altitude. Initial mass estimate M  ≈ 0.6 × 10⁶ kg, energy release E ≈ 13 kT of exploding TNT). The original solar orbit of the body is similar to near-Earth asteroids of the Aten group.
Ref:
-  A.R. Klekociuk, P.G. Brown, D.W. Pack, et al., 2005, Nature, 436, 1132, "Meteoritic dust from the atmospheric disintegration of a large meteoroid". See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.436.1132K>.

2004, Sep 13

Asteroid 2004 RU109 (H = 26.5 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+RU109&orb=1>.

2004, Sep 21

Asteroid 2004 ST26 (H = 26.4 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+ST26&orb=1>.

2004, Sep 29

Asteroid 4179 Toutatis (1989 AC, H = 15.3 mag, D = 4.6 × 2.4 × 1.9 km, orbital P = 4.03 yr, the largest known PHA) passed Earth at 4.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1989+AC&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4179_Toutatis>.    
See also: <echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/4179_Toutatis/toutatis.html>,  <www.space.com/scienceastronomy/toutatis_video_040929.html#video>,<impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=95>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=144>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=151>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041001.html>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041002.html>, <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html>, #11, <www.planetary.org/news/2004/0927_Very_Close_Approach_by_Asteroid_4179.html>, <www.planetary.org/news/2004/0929_Simultaneous_Observations_of_Asteroid.html>.

NASA Meteoroid Environment Office, established in October 2004, at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville (AL, USA). The office set up the NASA All-sky Fireball Network. See: <www.nasa.gov/offices/meo/home/aboutMEO-rd.html>, <fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/>.

2004, Oct

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Position Paper, Protecting Earth from Asteroids and Comets. See: <pdf.aiaa.org//downloads/publicpolicypositionpapers//Asteroids-Final. pdf>,  <www.planetarydefense.info/resources/pdf/Asteroids-Final.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=153>.

2004, Oct 24

Asteroid 2004 UH1 (H = 28.2 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+UH1+&orb=1>.

D. Lazzaro, C.A. Angeli, J.M. Carvano, et al., 2004, Icarus, 172, 179, "S³OS²: the visible spectroscopic survey of 820 asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004Icar..172..179L>.
S³OS²: Small Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey – carried out at the ESO (La Silla, Chile).
See also: <sbn.psi.edu/pds/resource/s3os2.html>.

2004, Nov 2 – Dec 1

ICSU workshop on NEOs in La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain), "Tenerife Retreat", supported by the 2004 ICSU/UNESCO Grant Programme. Proceedings: P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>, <thelightofdayradioshow.com/.../Comet-Asteroid-Impacts-and-Human-Socie...>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=155>.

M.J.S. Belton, T.H. Morgan, N. Samarasinha & D.K. Yeomans (eds.), 2004, Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids (Cambridge: CUP). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004mhca.conf.....B>, <cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521827645&ss=ind>, <bit.ly/nh4hVq>, <www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1170928/?site_locale=en_GB>.
Abstracts: <www.noao.edu/meetings/mitigation/eav.html>.
Full report and recommendations: <www.beltonspace.com/bsei_web_page_0000d.htm>.

M.D. Campbell-Brown, A. Hildebrand, 2004, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 95, 489, "A new analysis of fireball data from the Meteorite Observation and Recovery Project (MORP)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004EM%26P...95..489C>.

D. Morrison, C.R. Chapman, D. Steel, R.P. Binzel, 2004, in: M.J.S. Belton, et al. (eds.), 2004, Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids (Cambridge: CUP), p. 353, "Impacts and the public: communicating the nature of impact hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004mhca.conf..353M>.

A.S. Rivkin, R.P. Binzel, J. Sunshine, et al., 2004, Icarus, 172, 408, "Infrared spectroscopic observations of 69230 Hermes (1937 UB): possible unweathered endmember among ordinary chondrite analogs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004Icar..172..408R>.

2004, Dec 16

Asteroid 2004 XB45 (H = 26.3 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+XB45&orb=1>.

2004, Dec 19

Asteroid 2004 YD5 (H = 29.3 mag, D ≈ 5 m) passed Earth at 0.088 LD (= 33,890 km = 5.32 R_Earth from the geocenter).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+YD5&orb=1>
See also: <www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_close_041222.html>.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4, H = 19.7 mag, D ≈ 270 m, M ≈ 2.7 × 10¹⁰ kg, orbital P = 0.89 yr, PHA) passed Earth at 37.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+MN4&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis>.
Ref:
-  J.D. Giorgini, L.A.M. Benner, S.J. Ostro, et al., 2008, Icarus, 193, 1, "Predicting the Earth encounters of (99942) Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..193....1G>.
See also: 13 April 2029.

3140 NEAs known, of which 648 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

D. Morrison, 2005, Science and Global Security, 13, 87, "Defending the Earth against asteroids: the case for a global response." See: <www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a714010227~db=all~jumptype=rss>, <www.princeton.edu/sgs/publications/sgs/pdf/13%201-2%20Morrision.pdf>.

M.C. Nolan, L.A. Benner, G. Black, et al., 2005, in: O. Engvold (ed.), Highlights of Astronomy, 13, 759, as presented at the XXVth General Assembly of the IAU, Sydney (Australia), 13 - 26 July 2003 (San Francisco: ASP), "Radar observations of Near-Earth Asteroids." See:
<adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005HiA....13..759N>.

P. Pravec, A.W. Harris, P. Scheirich, et al., 2005, Icarus,  173, 108, "Tumbling asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Icar..173..108P>.

2005, Jan 7

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS). Information on research in the field of NEOs carried out by Member States, international organizations and other entities. See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_839E.pdf>.

2005, Jan 13

Asteroid 2005 BS1 (H = 27.3 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2005+BS1+&orb=1>.

2005, Feb

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14 on NEOs meets in Vienna (Austria), during the 42^nd session of the Scientific & Technical Subcommittee of UN-COPUOS. Report 25 February 2005. Hans Rickman, former IAU General Secretary, presents paper "Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society". The Planetary Defense Center of Lavochkin Association, Moscow (Russia) presents a proposal "Creation of the 'Citadel' International Planetary Defense System." See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_848E.pdf>.
See also:
<www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_863Add1E.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=47>

A. Milani, S.R. Chesley, M.E. Sansaturio, 2005, Icarus, 173, 362, "Nonlinear impact monitoring: line of variation searches for impactors." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Icar..173..362M>.

A.M. MacRobert, 15 February 2005, Sky & Telescope, "Asteroid 2004 MN4: a really near miss!" See: <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3310036.html?page=1&c=y>.

2005, Mar 5

H. Rickman, former IAU General Secretary, in: A. Heck (ed.), 2006, Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, Vol. 6 (Dordrecht: Springer), p. 225, "IAU initiatives relating to the Near Earth Object impact hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006ASSL..335..225R>.

H.J. Melosh, G.S. Collins, 2005, Nature, 434, 157, "Meteor Crater formed by a low-velocity impact." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.434..157M>.

2005, Mar 18

Asteroid 2005 FN (H = 26.9 mag, D ≈ 15m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2005+FN&orb=1>.

P. Michel, A. Morbidelli, W.F. Bottke, 2005, Comptes Rendus – Physique, 6, 291, "Origin and dynamics of Near Earth Objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005CRPhy...6..291M>.

W. Thuillot, J. Vaubaillon, H. Scholl, 2005, Comptes Rendus - Physique, 6, 327, "Relevance of the NEO dedicated observing programs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005CRPhy...6..327T>.

R.L. Schweickart, 2005, presented at the National Space Society International Space Development Conference, Washington (DC, USA), "A call to (considered) action". See: <www.b612foundation.org/papers/Call_for_Action.pdf>.

R. Gomes, H.F. Levison, K. Tsiganis, A. Morbidelli, 2005, Nature, 435, 466, "Origin of the cataclysmic Late Heavy Bombardment period of the terrestrial planets." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.435..466G>.

2005, Jun

G.S. Collins, H.J. Melosh, R.A. Marcus, 2005, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40, 817, "Earth impact effects program: a web-based computer program for calculating the regional environmental consequences of a meteoroid impact on Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005M%26PS...40..817C>, <www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/>, <www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/CollinsEtAl2005.pdf>.

2005, Jun 6 – Oct 12

Exchange of letters between B612 Foundation and NASA Administrator re the potential need for a near-term launch of a mission to Apophis (2004 MN4) to precisely determine its orbit in order to permit an orderly deflection mission should it, in fact, be on an impact trajectory. See: <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html>, #11.

2005, Jul

Vredefort crater, located in the Free State Province of South Africa, and named after the town of Vredefort situated near its centre, is the largest verified impact crater on Earth. The site is also referred to as Vredefort dome or Vredefort impact structure. In 2005, the Vredefort Dome was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its geologic interest. The asteroid that hit the Vredefort area in pre-historic times is one of the largest to ever impact Earth (at least since the Hadean), with an estimated diameter of D > 10 km. The crater has a diameter d ≈ 250 – 300 km, larger than the 200 km wide Sudbury Basin crater and the 170 km wide Chicxulub crater. This makes Vredefort the largest known impact structure on Earth. The age is estimated to be 2,023 ± 4 million years, impacting during the Paleoproterozoic era.
Ref:
- E.P. Turtle, E. Pierazzo, D.P. O'Brien, 2003, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 38, 293, "Numerical modeling of impact heating and cooling of the Vredefort impact structure." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003M%26PS...38..293T>;
- W.U. Reimold, R.L. Gibson, 2005, "Meteorite Impact! The danger from space and South Africa's mega-impact the Vredefort structure" (Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications).
Review by D.T. King.  See:
<onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2005.tb00154.x/abstract>;
- R.A.F. Grieve, W.U. Reimold, J. Morgan, et al., 2008, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 43, 855, "Observations and interpretations at Vredefort, Sudbury, and Chicxulub: towards an empirical model of terrestrial impact basin formation." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008M%26PS...43..855G>.
See also: <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vredefort_crater>, <www.hartrao.ac.za/other/vredefort/vredefort.html>,
<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Impact_Database>.

2005, Jul 4

NASA spacecraft Deep Impact collided with comet 9P/Tempel. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=159>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=160>, <www.nasa.gov/pdf/474723main_Johnson-DI_Lessons_Learned_for_NOW.ppt.pdf>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2011-367>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Impact_(space_mission)>.

E. Asphaug, 2005, Nature, 436, 335, "Asteroids: shaken on impact." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.436..335A>.

M. Ćuk, J.A. Burns, 2005, Icarus, 176, 418, "Effects of thermal radiation on the dynamics of binary NEAs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Icar..176..418C>.

2005, Aug 7-12

IAU Symposium No. 229 on Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, IX, Búzios (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Proceedings: D. Lazzaro, S. Ferraz-Mello & J.A. Fernández (eds.), 2006,  Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2005 (Cambridge: CUP). See: <journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=IAU&volumeId=1&issueId=S229>, <www.on.br/acm2005/>.

R.P. Binzel, D.F. Lupishko, 2006, in: D. Lazzaro, S. Ferraz-Mello & J.A. Fernández (eds.), Proc. IAU Symposium No. 229 on Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, IX, Búzios (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 7-12 Aug 2005 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 207, "Properties of the Near-Earth object population: the ACM 2005 view." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006IAUS..229..207B>.

S.R. Chesley, 2006, in: D. Lazzaro, S. Ferraz-Mello & J.A. Fernández (eds.), Proc. IAU Symposium No. 229 on Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, IX, Búzios (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 7-12 Aug 2005 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 215, "Potential impact detection for Near-Earth asteroids: the case of 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006IAUS..229..215C>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/Chesley_paper.pdf>.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4, H = 19.7 mag, D ≈ 270 m, M ≈ 2.7 × 10¹⁰ kg, orbital P = 0.89 yr, PHA) passed Earth at 104.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+MN4&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis>.
Ref:
-  J.D. Giorgini, L.A.M. Benner, S.J. Ostro, et al., 2008, Icarus, 193, 1, "Predicting the Earth encounters of (99942) Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..193....1G>.
See also: 13 April 2029.

Asteroid 308635 (2005 YU55, H = 21.1 mag, D ≈ 325 m, P_o = 1.22 yr, PHA) passed Earth at a nominal miss distance of 139 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2005+YU55&orb=1>.
See also: 8 November 2011, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_YU55>.

2005, Aug 13

Spaceguard Survey progress: 3496 NEAs known, of which 793 with D > 1 km. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=162>.

A.R. Klekociuk, P.G. Brown, D.W. Pack, et al., 2005, Nature, 436, 1132, "Meteoritic dust from the atmospheric disintegration of a large meteoroid." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.436.1132K>.

M.J. Gaffey, P.A. Abell, P.S. Hardersen, et al., 2005, in: Proc. 68th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 12-16 September 2005, Gatlinburg (TN, USA), Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40, Supplement, p.5127, "Compositions of binary Near-Earth Objects: implications for the meteorite flux." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005M%26PSA..40.5127G>.

D.T. King, L.W. Petruny, 2005, in: Proc. 68th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 12-16 September 2005, Gatlinburg (TN, USA), Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40, Supplement, p.5317, "The stratigraphic and historic record of meteoritic impact events in Alabama." See:
<adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005M%26PSA..40.5317K>.

2005, Sep 25

ESA selected two target asteroids for its NEO deflection mission concept Don Quijote, under study by ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team (ACT). In February 2005 ESA's NEO Mission Advisory Panel (NEOMAP) submitted a target selection report for Europe’s future asteroid mitigation missions, identifying the relevant criteria for selecting a target and picking two objects that meet most of those criteria: asteroid 10302 (1989 ML, H = 19.5 mag, D = 500 m, Amor asteroid) and asteroid 2002 AT4 (H = 20.9 mag, D = 160 × 370 m, Amor asteroid). Three industrial phase-A studies were completed in September 2007.
See: <www.esa.int/esaCP/SEML9B8X9DE_index_0.html>,  <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/NEO/SEMZRZNVGJE_0.html>, <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/NEO/SEM3P4OVGJE_0.html>, <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/NEO/SEMVXVB1S6F_0.html>,  <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quijote_(space_probe)>, <www.nasa.gov/pdf/474203main_Coradini_ExploreNOW.pdf>, <www.spacegeneration.org/index.php/eventstopics/news/227-sgac-announces-the-winner-of-the-2010-move-an-asteroid-competition>, <www.spacegeneration.org/images/stories/Projects/NEO/Corbin_Asteroid_Paper.pdf>.

2005, Sep - Oct

R.L. Schweickart, C.R. Chapman, 2005, American Scientist, 93, 392, "Better collision insurance - asteroids smaller than those now being actively catalogued constitute a largely neglected natural hazard." See: <www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/better-collision-insurance>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=163>.

D.J. Asher, M. Bailey, V. Emel'yanenko, W. Napier, 2005, The Observatory, 125, 319, "Earth in the cosmic shooting gallery." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Obs...125..319A>.

2005, Oct 10

Asteroid 2005 TK50 (H = 29.0 mag, D ≈ 6 m) passed Earth at 0.3 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2005+TK50+&orb=1>.

2005, Oct 10-14

The Association of Space Explorers (ASE), at its XIX Congress in Salt Lake City (Utah, USA), formed the ASE Committee on Near-Earth Objects (chair Russell L. Schweickart), and charged it with bringing to the attention of world leaders and key international institutions the threat of asteroid impacts to life on Earth. An Open Letter elaborates on the issue.
See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/ASE_intro_AT-14.pdf>, <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/Open_Letter.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=164>.

2005, Oct 30

Asteroid 2005 UW5 (H = 27.5 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2005+UW5+&orb=1>.

H. Fu, R. Jedicke, D.D. Durda, et al., 2005, Icarus, 178, 434, "Identifying near-Earth object families." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Icar..178..434F>.

D.P. O'Brien, R. Greenberg, 2005, Icarus, 178, 179, "The collisional and dynamical evolution of the main-belt and NEA size distributions." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Icar..178..179O>.

V.V. Svetsov, 2005, Planetary and Space Science, 53, 1205, "Numerical simulations of very large impacts on the Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005P%26SS...53.1205S>.

Taurid Meteor shower over Cerro Pachon (Chile). See: <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051115.html>.

2005, Nov 10

E.T. Lu, S.G. Love, 2005, Nature, 438, 177: "Gravitational tractor for towing asteroids", an article describing how a spacecraft could deflect an Earth-bound asteroid without having to dock to its surface. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.438..177L>, <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html>, #12.

2005, Nov 19, 25

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) spacecraft Hayabusa (formerly MUSES-C), launched 9 May 2003, lands on asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36, H = 19.2 mag, D = 535 × 290 × 209 m, M = 3.6 × 10¹⁰ kg, PHA). The first rendezvous mission to a PHA. Sample return to Earth  in June 2010. JAXA is considering a Hayabusa-2 sample return mission to asteroid 162173 (1999 JU3, H = 19.18 mag, D ≈ 0.5 km, PHA).
See: <www.isas.ac.jp/e/enterp/missions/hayabusa/index.shtml>, <www.jspec.jaxa.jp/e/activity/hayabusa2.html>.
Ref:
- I. Fuyuno, 2005, Nature, 438, 542, "Hayabusa ready to head home with asteroid sample." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.438..542F>;
- E. Asphaug, 2006, Science, 312, 1328, "Adventures in Near-Earth Object exploration." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Sci...312.1328A>, <www.ipsubc.org/paper/1328.pdf>;
- A. Fujiwara, et al., 2006, Science, 312, 1327, "Hayabusa at asteroid Itokawa" <www.sciencemag.org/content/312/5778.toc>;
- A. Fujiwara, J. Kawaguchi, D.K. Yeomans, et al., Science, 312, 1330, "The rubble-pile asteroid Itokawa as observed by Hayabusa." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Sci...312.1330F>;
- J. Saito, H. Miyamoto, R. Nakamura, et al., 2006, Science, 312, 1341, "Detailed images of asteroid 25143 Itokawa from Hayabusa." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Sci...312.1341S>;
- H. Yano, T. Kubota, H. Miyamoto, et al., 2006, Science, 312, 1350, "Touchdown of the Hayabusa spacecraft at the Muses Sea on Itokawa." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Sci...312.1350Y>;
- M. Yoshikawa, A. Fujiwara, J. Kawaguchi, 2007, in: K.A. van der Hucht (ed.), Highlights of Astronomy, Vol. 14, presented at the IAU XXVI General Assembly, Prague, 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 323, "Hayabusa and its adventure around the tiny asteroid  Itokawa." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007HiA....14..323Y>;
- M. Yoshikawa, A. Fujiwara, J. Kawaguchi, et al., 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunities and Risk, Proc. IAU Symposium No. 236, Prague, 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 401, "The nature of asteroid Itokawa revealed by Hayabusa." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..401Y>.
Read further the items of 13 June 2010 and 17 November 2010.
See also: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-44.pdf>, <www.nasa.gov/pdf/474205main_Kuninaka_HayabusaLL_ExploreNOW.pdf>, <blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2010/06/japan_celebrates_asteroid_roun.html>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbI78CZWP7g>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyQDwAUfRQ&NR=1>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtwTD8cBhKc&NR=1>,  <www.nature.com/news/2010/290610/full/466016a.html>, <www.space.com/news/japan-approves-asteroid-probe-new-rocket-100820.html>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070422.html>,  <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa>.

2005, Nov 23

Workshop Near Earth Objects, a Natural Hazard of Global Proportions, London (UK), hosted by the Royal Aeronautical Society. See: <www.raes.org.uk/conference/PDFs/520.pdf>, <www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18431>.

2005, Nov 26

Asteroid 2005 WN3 (H = 29.9 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2005+WN3+&orb=1>.

C.S. Cockell, P. Lee, P. Broady, 2005, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40, 1901, "Effects of asteroid and comet impacts on habitats for lithophytic organisms — a synthesis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005M%26PS...40.1901C>.

2005, Dec 5

Asteroid 2005 XA8 (H = 25.6 mag, D ≈ 30 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2005+WN3+&orb=1>.

2005, Dec 22

US Congress passed Section 321 of the NASA Authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law No. 109-155), a.k.a. the "George E. Brown Jr NEO Survey Act" (in honour of US Congressman G. E. Brown, 1920 – 1999), charging NASA to detect, track and characterize 90% of NEOs with D > 140 m that could potentially strike Earth, by the end of 2020. Aim probably not reached before 2028.
See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=54>, <www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-1281>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_defense#cite_note-morrison_1992-1>.

3767 NEAs known, of which 742 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

A. Cellino, R. Somma, L. Tommasi, et al., 2006, Advances in Space Research, 37, 153, "NERO: general concept of a Near-Earth Object radiometric observatory." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AdSpR..37..153C>.

J. de Léon, J. Licandro, R. Duffard, M. Serra-Ricart, 2006, Advances in Space Research, 37, 178, "Spectral analysis and mineralogical characterization of 11 olivine pyroxene rich NEAs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AdSpR..37..178D>.

C. Koeberl, 2006, in: W.U. Reinolds & R.L. Gibson (eds.), Processes on the Early Earth, Geological Society of America, Special Papers, 405, 1, "The record of impact processes on the early Earth: a review of the first 2.5 billion years." See: <specialpapers.gsapubs.org/content/405/1.abstract>.

O. Văduvescu, M. Birlan, 2006, Romanian Astronomical Journal, 16 (2), 201, "Planning Near-Earth Asteroid observations on a 1-meter class telescope." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006RoAJ...16..201V>.

H. Rickman, 2006, in: A. Heck (ed.), Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, Vol. 6, p. 225 (Dordrecht: Springer), "IAU initiatives relating to the Near-Earth Object impact hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006ASSL..335..225R>.

R.W. Sinnott, 2006, Sky & Telescope, 111, no.1, p. 132, "How large an asteroid could a person jump off?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006S%26T...111a.132S>.

K.J. Walsh, D.C. Richardson, 2006, Icarus, 180, 201, "Binary near-Earth asteroid formation: rubble pile model of tidal disruptions." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Icar..180..201W>.

E. Asphaug, C.B. Agnor, Q, Williams, 2006, Nature, 439, 155, "Hit-and-run planetary collisions." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Natur.439..155A>.

2006, Jan 27, 29, 30

Arecibo radar observations of asteroid 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4, H = 19.7 mag, D ≈ 270 m, M ≈ 2.7 × 10¹⁰ kg, orbital P = 0.89 yr, PHA) by Steven J. Ostro.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+MN4&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis>.
See also: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=1253>.

2006, Jan 28

Asteroid 2006 BV39 (H = 29.0 mag, D ≈ 6 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+BV39+&orb=1>.

2006, Jan 29

Asteroid 2006 BF56 (H = 29.6 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+BF56+&orb=1>.

G. Beekman, 2006, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 37, 71, "I.O. Yarkovsky and the discovery of 'his' effect." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006JHA....37...71B>.

2006, Feb 20

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS). Pursuant to paragraph 16 of General Assembly resolution 61/111 of 14 December 2006, the UN-COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, at its 670th meeting, on 20 February, established a Working Group on Near-Earth Objects for one year under the chairmanship of Richard Tremayne-Smith (UK). See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_890E.pdf>, Annex III, <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/ASE_Intervention.pdf>.

R.L. Schweickart, 2006, presentation to the Royal Aeronautical Society & CCLRC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (U.K.), 20 February 2006, "Near-Earth Asteroids: deciding to deflect." See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/neo.html>.

2006, Feb 23

Asteroid 2006 DD1 (H = 26.5 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.3 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+DD1+&orb=1>.

2006, Feb 24

Asteroid 2006 DM63 (H = 26.7 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+DM63&orb=1>.

P. Pravec, P. Scheirich, P. Kušnirák, et al., 2006, Icarus, 181, 63, "Photometric survey of binary near-Earth asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Icar..181...63P>.

S.P. Wright, M.A. Vesconi, A. Gustin, 2006, presented at 37th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 13-17 March 2006, League City (TX, USA), abstract no.1102, "Revisiting the Campo Del Cielo Crater Field (Argentina): a new data point from a natural laboratory of multiple low velocity, oblique impacts." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006LPI....37.1102W>.
Read also:
- M.C.L. Rocca, September 2006, presented at Proc. 69th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 6-11 August 2006, Zürich (Switzerland), Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 41, Supplement, p. 5001, "A catalogue of large meteorite specimens from Campo Del Cielo Meteorite shower, Cahco Province (Argentina)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006M%26PSA..41.5001R>;
- P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/asteroid impacts and human society (Berlin: Springer), p. 30, "Campo Del Cielo, Argentina." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>.
The Campo Del Cielo Meteorites refers to a group of iron meteorites or to the area where they were found situated on the border between the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, 1,000 kilometers NW of Buenos Aires (Argentina). The crater field covers an area of 3×20 km and contains at least 26 craters, the largest being 115×91 m. The craters' age is estimated as 4,000 — 5,000 years. The craters, containing iron masses, were reported in 1576, but were already well known to the aboriginal inhabitants of the area. The craters and the area around contain numerous fragments of an iron meteorite. The total weight of the pieces so far recovered exceeds 100 tonnes, making the meteorite the heaviest one ever recovered on Earth. The largest fragment, consisting of 37 tonnes, is the second heaviest single-piece meteorite recovered on Earth, after the Hoba Meteorite (see: June 1967).
See also: <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2006/pdf/1102.pdf>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2006/pdf/5001.pdf>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_del_Cielo>.

2006, Mar 1-2

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14 on NEOs meets in Vienna (Austria). Report 16 March 2006: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_869E.pdf>.

In December 1932, scientists surveying the southern Egyptian desert came upon pieces of a translucent, pale yellow-green, glassy substance, from tiny fragments to football-sized chunks, scattered over a huge area at the Libyan border. Known as Libyan Desert Glass, this almost pure silica contained isotopes showing it to be of extraterrestrial origin. But scientists had not been able to figure out where it came from. Now Farouk El-Baz, director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing, believes the mystery has been solved. On satellite images of the Sahara Desert, he found a gigantic impact crater in the area. At a diameter of 30 km, it's "the largest crater yet found in the Sahara," El-Baz says, and big enough to be the source of the glass, which covers a 60- by 100-km area. He believes the crater hadn't been recognized before because it is so big; also, parts of its rims were eroded by two ancient river systems. El-Baz has named the crater, located on the Gilf Kebir plateau, the Kebira.
Ref:
-  N.N., 2006, Science, 311, 1223, "Glass with an impact." See: <www.sciencemag.org/content/311/5765/1223.2.full.pdf>;
- L. Orti, M. di Martino, M. Morelli, et al., 2008, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 43, 1629, "Non-impact origin of the crater-like structures in the Gilf Kebir area (Egypt): implications for the geology of eastern Sahara." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008M%26PS...43.1629O>;
- G.R. Osinski, J. Kieniewics, J.R. Smith, M.B.E. Boslough, et al., 2008, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 43, 2089, "The Dakhleh Glass: product of an impact airburst or cratering event in the Western Desert of Egypt?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008M%26PS...43.2089O>.
See also: <www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/311/5765/1223c>, <www.planetary.org/news/2006/0303_Egyptian_Impact_Site_Possible_Source.html>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_desert_glass>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebira_crater>.

2006, Mar 8

Asteroid 2006 EC (H = 26.6 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+EC&orb=1>.

2006, Mar 29

Earth-grazing fireball, travelling in 30 seconds about 1000 km, 71 km above Japan. Estimated mass M  ≈ 100 kg.
Ref:
-  S. Abe, J. Boroviƒçka, P. Spurný, et al., 2006, Proc. European Planetary Science Congress 2006, Berlin (Germany), 18-22 September 2006, "Earth-grazing fireball, on March 29, 2006." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006epsc.conf..486A>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth-grazing_fireball>.

P.A. Bland, N.A. Artemieva, 2006, Meteoritics, 41, 607, "The rate of small impacts on Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006M%26PS...41..607B>.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4, H = 19.7 mag, D ≈ 270 m, M ≈ 2.7 × 10¹⁰ kg, orbital P = 0.89 yr, PHA) passed Earth at 78.9 LD.
Last fly by till 9 January 2013.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+EC+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis>.
Ref:
-  J.D. Giorgini, L.A.M. Benner, S.J. Ostro, et al., 2008, Icarus, 193, 1, "Predicting the Earth encounters of (99942) Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..193....1G>, 13 April 2029.

2006, Apr 26-28

International Conference on Near-Earth Objects Hazard: Knowledge and Action, Belgirate (Italy).

W.F. Bottke, D. Vokrouhlický, D.P. Rubincam, D. Nesvorný, 2006, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 34, 157, "The Yarkovsky and YORP effects: implications for asteroid dynamics." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AREPS..34..157B>.

Asteroid 2006 JY26 (H = 28.3 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 1.13 LD and the Moon at 0.38 LD. This asteroid will make close approaches again in 2073 and 2074.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+JY26+&orb=1>.
Ref:
-  R. Brasser, P. Wiegert, 2008, Monthly Notices Royal Astronomical Society, 386, 2931, "Asteroids on Earth-like orbits and their origin." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008MNRAS.386.2031B>.
See also: <fromthegonzo.wordpress.com/2006/05/12/asteroid-impact-effects/>.

W.D. Maier, M.A.G. Andreoli, I. McDonald, et al., 2006, Nature, 441, 203, "Discovery of a 25-cm asteroid clast in the giant Morokweng impact crater, South Africa." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Natur.441..203M>.

2006, May 12-14

Meeting on Asteroids and Comets in Europe, Vienna (Austria). See: <forum.sci.hr/viewtopic.php?t=186>,  <www.astrometrica.at/MACE/abstracts.html>.

W.N. Edwards, P.G. Brown, D.O. Revelle, 2006, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 68, 1136, "Estimates of meteoroid kinetic energies from observations of infrasonic airwaves." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006JASTP..68.1136E>.

R. Kahle, G. Hahn, E. Kührt, 2006, Icarus, 182, 482, "Optimal deflection of NEOs en route of collision with the Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Icar..182..482K>.

E. Asphaug, 2006, Science, 312, 1328, "Adventures in Near-Earth Object exploration." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Sci...312.1328A>, <www.ipsubc.org/paper/1328.pdf>.

Establishment of EUROpean Near Earth Asteroid Research (EURONEAR), a network for follow-up of NEAs/PHAs using 1-2 m class telescopes in Europe by professionals, students and amateurs.
Ref:
-  F. Colas, M. Birlan, O. Vaduvescu, et al., 2006, presented at the American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #58.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 38, 592, "EURONEAR - First Results at Pic du Midi." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006DPS....38.5805C>.
- O. Vaduvescu, M. Birlan, F. Colas, et al., 2008, Planetary and Space Science, 56, 1913, "EURONEAR: first results." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008P%26SS...56.1913V>; 
- A. Tudorica, R. Toma, A.B. Sonka, et al., 2009, American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #27.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 41, 557, "EURONEAR - the first 100 NEA's observed."  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009DPS....40.2709T>; 
- O. Vaduvescu, L. Curelaru, M. Birlan, 2009, Astronomische Nachrichten, 330, 698, "EURONEAR: data mining of asteroids and Near Earth Asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AN....330..698V>;
- M. Birlan, O. Văduvescu, D.A. Nedelcu, EURONEAR Team, 2010, Romanian Astronomical Journal, 20, Supplement "Recent insights into our Universe", 119, "High-precision astrometry of NEAs via EURONEAR observations." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010RoAJ...20S.119B>.
- M. Birlan, O. Vaduvescu, A. Tudorica, et al., 2010, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 511, 40, "More than 160 near Earth asteroids observed in the EURONEAR network." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...511A..40B>;
- O. Vaduvescu, M. Birlan, A. Tudorica, et al., 2011, Planetary and Space Science, 59, 1632, "EURONEAR – recovery, follow-up and discovery of NEAs and MBAs using large field 1-2m telescopes." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011P%26SS...59.1632V>.
See also: <euronear.imcce.fr/tiki-index.php?page=HomePage>.

Asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36, H = 19.2 mag, D = 0.535 × 0.29 × 0.209 km, M = 3.6 × 10¹⁰ kg, PHA)  passed Earth at 5.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1998+SF36&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25143_Itokawa>.

2006, Jun 26-29

NASA Workshop on Near-Earth Object Detection, Characterization, and Threat Mitigation, Vail (CO, USA). Proceedings: NEO Survey and Deflection Analysis of Alternatives: Report to Congress, issued March 2007. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/report2007.html>, < <www.nasa.gov/pdf/171331main_NEO_report_march07.pdf>, <www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/FOIA/NEO_Analysis_Doc.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=168>.

R. Schweickart, 2006, presented to: NASA's NEO Study Workshop, "Threat characterization: trajectory dynamics." See: <www.b612foundation.org/papers/wpdynamics.pdf>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/dynamics.pdf>.

S.R. Chesley, S.N. Ward, 2006, Natural Hazards, 38, 355, "A quantitative assessment of the human and economic hazard from impact-generated tsunami." See: <www.es.ucsc.edu/~ward/papers/tsunami_(v43).pdf>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=126>, <www.newscientist.com/article/dn9160-tsunami-risk-of-asteroid-strikes-revealed.html>.

D.P. O'Brien, R. Greenberg, J.A. Richardson, 2006, Icarus, 183, 79, "Craters on asteroids: reconciling diverse impact records with a common impacting population." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Icar..183...79O>.

2006, Jul 3

Asteroid 2004 XP14 (H = 19.5 mag, D ≈ 300 m, PHA) passed Earth at 1.1 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2004+XP14+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_XP14>.
Ref:
-  M.W. Busch, S.R. Kulkarni, A.R. Conrad, P.B. Cameron, 2007, Icarus, 189, 589, "Keck adaptive optics imaging of  near-Earth asteroid 2004 XP14." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..189..589B>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=168>.

J. Davis, P. Singla, J. Junkins, 2006, presented at the 7th International Conference on Dynamics and Control of Systems and Structures in Space (DCSSS), London (England), 16-20 July 2006, "Identifying near-term missions and impact keyholes for asteroid 99942 Apophis." See: <citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.188.4573>, <lairs.eng.buffalo.edu/pdffiles/pconf/RC1.pdf>.

2006, Jul 23

Asteroid 2006 OK3 (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+OK3+&orb=1>.

R. Schweickart, C. Chapman, D. Durda, B. Bottke, D. Nesvorny, P. Hut, 2006, presented at NASA Workshop on Near-Earth Object Detection, Characterization, and Threat Mitigation, Vail (CO, USA), 26-29 Jun 2006, White Paper 040, "Threat characterization: trajectory dynamics." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006physics...8155S>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/wpAT.pdf>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/AT-GT.pdf>.

R. Schweickart, C. Chapman, D. Durda, P. Hut, 2006, presented at NASA Workshop on Near-Earth Object Detection, Characterization, and Threat Mitigation, Vail (CO, USA), 26-29 Jun 2006, White Paper 041, "Threat mitigation: the Asteroid Tugboat." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006physics...8156S>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/wpAT.pdf>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/AT-GT.pdf>.

R. Schweickart, C. Chapman, D. Durda, P. Hut, 2006, presented at NASA Workshop on Near-Earth Object Detection, Characterization, and Threat Mitigation, Vail (CO, USA), 26-29 Jun 2006, White Paper 042, "Threat mitigation: the Gravity Tractor." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006physics...8157S>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/wpGT.pdf>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/AT-GT.pdf>.

D. Morrison, 2006, Philosophical Transactions Royal Society A, 364, 2041, "Asteroid and comet impacts: the ultimate environmental catastrophe." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006RSPTA.364.2041M>, <rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1845/2041.full.pdf+html>.

First asteroid discovered by the La Sagra Sky Survey (LSSS), of the Observatorio Astronomico de La Sagra (OLS), Puebla de Don Fadrique (Andalusia, Spain), operated by the Observatorio Astronomico de Mallorca (OAM). The LSSS employs three 45cm f/2.8 telescopes. Since 2009, LSSS is  the most prolific European NEO survey. As of Spring 2012, the LSSS has submitted more than 1,000,000 observations of asteroids and comets to the Minor Planet Center (MPC) and the LSSS has been credited with over 6,000 asteroid discoveries, including 52 NEOs. See: <www.minorplanets.org/OLS/>,
<lasagraskysurvey.org/index.html>, <lasagraskysurvey.org/neoslist.html>.

2006, Aug 14

As a follow-up of the IAU Working Group on Near Earth Objects (WG-NEO), the IAU EC appointed an IAU Advisory Committee on Hazards of Near Planetary Objects. Membership: six IAU Division III asteroid scientists. See: <www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/125/>.

2006, Aug 14-18

IAU Symposium No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbours: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic). Proceedings: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007 (Cambridge: CUP). See: <journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=IAU&volumeId=2&issueId=S236>, <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236.....V>.

B.G. Marsden, 2006, Dissertatio cum Nuncio Siderio III (IAU XXVI General Assembly journal), No. 5, p. 1, "Defenestrace". See: <astro.cas.cz/nuncius/nsiii_05.pdf>.

Brian G. Marsden retired as director of the IAU Minor Planet Center (Cambridge, MA, USA), to be  succeeded by  Timothy B. Spahr. See: <www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html>.

2006, Aug 31

Asteroid 2006 QM111 (H = 27.6 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+QM111+&orb=1>.

P.A. Bland, P. Spurný, A.W.R. Bevan, et al., 2006, in: Proceedings 69th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 6-6-11 August 2006, Zürich (Switzerland), Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 41, Supplement, p.5197, "First Light for the Desert Fireball Network." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006M%26PSA..41.5197B>.

F. Colas, M. Birlan, O. Vaduvescu, et al., 2006, presented at the American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #58.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 38, 592, "EURONEAR - First Results at Pic du Midi." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006DPS....38.5805C>.

J. de Léon, R. Duffard, J. Licandro, et al., 2006, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 38, 627, "Near-Earth Objects Spectroscopic Survey (NEOSS): first results from mineralogical analysis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006DPS....38.7107D>.

R. Duffard, J. de León, J. Licandro, D. Lazzaro, M. Serra-Ricart, 2006, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 456, 775, "Basaltic asteroids in the Near-Earth Objects population: a mineralogical analysis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006A%26A...456..775D>.

T.J. Goldin, H.J. Melosh, 2006, in: Proceedings 69th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, Zürich (Switzerland), 6-11 August 2006, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 41, Supplement, p.5073, "Effects of falling impact ejecta on the post-Chicxulub atmosphere." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006M%26PSA..41.5073G>.

A.K. Mainzer, 2006, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 38, 568, "NEOCam: The Near-Earth Object Camera." Proposal selected by NASA for technological development, 5 May 2011. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006DPS....38.4509M>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-136&cid=release_2011-136&msource=11136&tr=y&auid=8299371>.

G. Tancredi, 2006, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 41, A5269, "A new fireball in early April: a possible association with the Príbram Radiant." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006M%26PSA..41.5269T>.

2006, Sep 15

Expert Working Group on the Comet and Asteroid Hazard Problem established by the Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences. See: <www.inasan.ru/eng/asteroid_hazard/>, <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_L295E.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-35.pdf>.

European Planetary Science Congress 2006 (EPSC #1), Berlin (Germany), 18-22 September 2006. See: <meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2006/ >.

J.L. Ortiz, F.J. Aceituno, J.A. Quesada, 2006, Icarus, 184, 319, "Detection of sporadic impact flashes on the Moon: implications for the luminous efficiency of hypervelocity impacts and derived terrestrial impact rates." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Icar..184..319O>.

P. Vereš, L. Kornoš, J. Tóth, 2006, Contributions Astronomical Observatory Skalnaté Pleso, 36 (3), 171, "Search for very close approaching NEAs." See:
<adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006CoSka..36..171V>.

2006, Oct 21

Asteroid 2006 UE64 (H = 28.0 mag, D ≈ 9 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+UE64+&orb=1>.

2006, Oct 30

Asteroid 2006 UJ185 (H = 27.9 mag, D ≈ 9 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+UJ185+&orb=1>.

D.D. Durda, 2006, Sky & Telescope, November 2006, p. 29, "The most dangerous asteroid ever found." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006S%26T...112e..28D>.

2006, Nov 16

Asteroid 2006 WP1 (H = 28.3 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+WP1+&orb=1>.

2006, Nov 20

Asteroid 2006 WX29 (H = 27.8 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+WX29+&orb=1>.

2006, Nov 21

Asteroid 2006 WV (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+WV+&orb=1>.

2006, Dec 12

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14:  Interim Report. See: <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_L290E.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2007/tech-35.pdf>.

NASA Near-Earth Object Survey and Deflection Study, Final report. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov./neo/report2007.html>.

4409 NEAs known, of which 825 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

2007

The 200,000^th minor planet was numbered at the IAU Minor Planet Center: asteroid 200000 (2007 JT40, H = 15.7 mag, D ≈ 2.5 km, main-belt asteroid), discovered on 12 May 2007 by the Mount Lemon Survey at Mount Lemmon (AZ, USA), as part of the Catalina Sky Survey.

L.D. Schmadel, 2007, Dictionary of minor planet names (Berlin: Springer). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007dmpn.book.....S>.

2007

The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) formed an ASE Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation. See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/neo.html >.

P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer). Report of the "Tenerife Retreat" of December 2004. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>, <thelightofdayradioshow.com/PlanetX_Files/Comet-Asteroid-Impacts-and-Human-Society.pdf>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=155>.

D. Morrison, 2006, in: P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer), p. 163, "The impact hazard: advanced NEO surveys and societal responses." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>.

B.G. Marsden, 2006, in: P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer), p. 505, "Impact risk communication management (1998 – 2004): has it improved?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>.

J. Andersen, 2006, in: P. Bobrowsky & H. Rickman (eds.), 2007, Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society (Berlin: Springer), p. 521, "Towards rational international policies on the NEO hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007caih.book.....B>.

G.B. Valsecchi, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), Proc. IAU Symposium No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbours: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. xvii, "236 years ago … ." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236.....V>.

S.J. Ostro, J.D. Giorgini, L.A.M. Benner, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 143, "Radar reconnaissance of near-Earth asteroids." See:
<adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..143O>.

P. Pravec, A.W. Harris, B.D. Warner, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 167, "NEA rotations and binaries." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..167P>.

D.F. Lupishko, M. Di Martino, R.P. Binzel, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 251, "Near-Earth objects as principal impactors of the Earth: physical properties and sources of origin." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..251L>.

A. Boattini, A. Milani, G.F. Gronchi, T. Spahr, G.B. Valsecchi, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 291, "Low solar elongation searches for NEO: a deep sky test and its implications for survey strategies." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..291B>.

S. Larson, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 323, "Current NEO surveys." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..323L>.

R.S. Mc Millan, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 329, "Spacewatch preparations for the era of deep all-sky surveys." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..329M>.

O. Engvold, IAU General Secretary, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), 2007, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 467, "The IAU role." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..467E>.

J. Licandro, H. Campins, T. Mothé-Diniz, et al., 2007, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 461, 751, "The nature of comet-asteroid transition object (3200) Phaethon." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007A%26A...461..751L>.

2007, Jan 18

Asteroid 2007 BD (H = 25.6 mag, D ≈ 30 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+BD+&orb=1>.

2007, Jan 19

Asteroid 2007 BB (H = 27.8 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+BB+&orb=1>.

J. P. Sanchez Cuartielles, C. Colombo, M. Vasile, G. Radice, 2007, in: New trends in astrodynamics and applications. III. AIP Conference Proceedings, 886, 317, "A multi-criteria assessment of deflection methods for dangerous NEOs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007AIPC..886..317S>.

2007, Feb 11

Asteroid 2007 CC27 (H = 26.9 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+CC27+&orb=1>.

D. Vergano, 2007, USA Today, "Near-Earth asteroids could be 'steppingstones to Mars'." See: <www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-02-12-asteroid_x.htm>.

2007, Feb 21

Asteroid 2007 DN41 (H = 26.1 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+DN41+&orb=1>.

2007, Feb 21-22

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14 on NEOs meets in Vienna (Austria). Action Team 14 recommends addressing the threat from smaller NEAs, augmentation of the Minor Planet Center, preparation of a draft NEA deflection protocol and international procedures. Report 6 March 2007: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_890E.pdf>.

R.L. Schweickart, 2007, presented at the 44th Session of the UN-COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee Meeting, Vienna (Austria), "Deflecting NEOs: a pending international challenge." See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/STSC07paper.pdf>.

D. Morrison, A. Milani, R. Binzel, et al., 2007, in: O. Engvold (ed.), Reports on Astronomy, IAU Transactions XXVIA (Cambridge: CUP), p. 187, "Division I & III WG on Near Earth Objects". See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUTA..26..187M>.

G.B. Valsecchi, J.A. Fernández, et al., 2007, in: O. Engvold (ed.), Reports on Astronomy, IAU Transactions XXVIA (Cambridge: CUP), p. 153, "Commission 20: Positions and motions of minor planets, comets and satellites". See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUTA..26..153V>.

2007, Mar 5-8

International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) 2007 Planetary Defense Conference, Protecting Earth from Asteroids, Washington, D.C. (USA). Summary and recommendations in White Paper. See: <www.aero.org/conferences/planetarydefense/>,
<www.aero.org/conferences/planetarydefense/2007papers/WhitePaperFinal.pdf>, <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/Intnl_Policy_Issues.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=170>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=172>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=173>.

R.L. Schweicart, 2007, presented at the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) 2007 Planetary Defense Conference, Protecting Earth from Asteroids, Washington D.C. (USA), 5-8 March 2007, "The NEO threat: international policy issues". See: <www.planetarydefense.info>, <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/Intnl_Policy_Issues.pdf>.

2007, Mar 7

NASA report to Congress NEO Survey and Deflection Analysis of Alternatives – Report to Congress, in response to the George E. Brown Jr NEO Survey Act of 28 December 2005. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/report2007.html>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=171>,
<impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=174>.
Critique: <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html> #15, #16

2007, Mar 11

Asteroid 2007 EH (H = 27.6 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+EH+&orb=1>.

2007, Mar 13

Asteroid 2007 EK (H = 29.3 mag, D ≈ 5 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+EK&orb=1>.

2007, Mar 25

Asteroid 2006 RH120 (H = 29.5 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+RH120+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_RH120>.
See also: <www.space.com/14037-earth-2-moons-asteroids-theories.html>.

Asteroid 2006 VV2 (H = 16.8 mag, D ≈ 1500 m, PHA) passed Earth at 8.8 LD (= 3.4 × 106 km).
Next flyby in 2177 at 12.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+VV2+&orb=1>.
Ref:
-  R. Huziak, 2007, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 101, Issue 4, p.165, "Ramblings of a variable-star addict: precise measurements for Earth-crossing asteroid 2006 VV2". See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007JRASC.101..165H>.
See also: <www.rasc.ca/news/2006VV2.shtml>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070405.html>.

M. Ćuk, 2007, Astrophysical Journal (Letters), 659, L57, "Formation and destruction of small binary asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007ApJ...659L..57C>.

2007, Apr 2

NASA Report to Congress on Advanced NEO Survey. See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=171>.

S.C. Lowry, A. Fitzsimmons, P. Pravec, et al., 2007, Science, 316, 272, "Direct detection of the asteroidal YORP effect." See: <star.pst.qub.ac.uk/comast/papers/YORP1.pdf>.

2007, Apr 24

Asteroid 2007 HB15 (H = 27.8 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+HB15+&orb=1>.

G.C. de Elía, A. Brunini, 2007, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 466, 1159, "Collisional and dynamical evolution of the main belt and NEA population." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007A%26A...466.1159D>.

M. Delbò, A. Cellino, E.F. Tedesco, 2007, Icarus, 188, 266, "Albedo and size determination of potentially hazardous asteroids: (99942) Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..188..266D>.

R.B. Firestone, A. West, Z. Revay, et al., 2007, in: American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2007, abstract #PP41A-01, "Evidence for a massive extraterrestrial airburst over North America 12.9 ka ago." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007AGUSMPP41A..01F>.

R.A. Fevig, U. Fink, 2007, Icarus, 188, 175, "Spectral observations of 19 weathered and 23 fresh NEAs and their correlations with orbital parameters." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..188..175F>.

R.B. Firestone, A. West, J.P. Kenneth, et al., 2007, in: American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2007, abstract #PP43A-01, "Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact event 12,900 years ago that contributed to megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007AGUSMPP43A..01F>.

Mark Moidel, Space Viz, 2007, DVD, Planetary Defense. Interviews with M. A'Hearn, M. Belton, R. Binzel, C. Chapman, A.C. Clarke, F.J. Dyson, A.W. Harris (Germany), A.W. Harris (USA), D.H. Levy, S. Ostro, D. Scheeres, R. Schweickart, D. Steel, G. Stokes, R.J. Whiteley, S.P. Worden, and D.K. Yeomans. See: <spaceviz.com/documentaries/planetarydefense/planetarydefense.html>.

2007, May 9-12

1^st International Workshop on NEO Deflection Policy, International Space University, Strasbourg (France), organized by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE). See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/ASE_NEO_Aug06.pdf>, <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/workshop1.html>, <www.isunet.edu/ index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=131&Itemid=26>, <www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=20596>.

2007, May 10

Puerto Lápice Fireball and Meteorite. A brilliant fireball of absolute magnitude – 14 ± 4 was widely seen all over Spain. The fireball travelled from south to north and experienced various explosions along its trajectory. The Spanish Fireball Network (SPMN) and numerous images taken by observers documented the fall. Some 500 g of meteorite material was collected at Puerto Lápice (Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain), notably achondrite (eucrite, brecciated).
Ref:
-  J.M. Trigo-Rodríguez, J. Boroviƒça, P. Spurný, et al., 2006, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 44, 175, "Puerto Lápice eucrite fall: strewn field, physical description, probable fireball trajectory, and orbit."  See: <onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2009.tb00726.x/abstract>.
See also: <tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?code=45984>.

In 2006, 14 space agencies (ASI, Italy; CNES, France; CNSA China; CSA, Canada; CSIRO, Australia; DLR, Germany; ESA, Europe; ISRO, India; JAXA, Japan; KARI, Republic of Korea; NASA, USA; NSAU, Ukraine; Roscosmos, Russia; BNSC/UKSA, UK) began a series of discussions on global interests in space exploration. Together they took the step of elaborating a vision for peaceful robotic and human space exploration, focusing on destinations within the Solar System, and developed a common set of key space exploration themes. This vision was articulated in ‘The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination,' hereinafter referred to as the 'Framework Document'. A key finding of the Framework Document is the need to establish a voluntary, non-binding international coordination mechanism through which individual agencies may exchange information regarding interests, objectives and plans in space exploration, with the goal of strengthening both individual exploration programs as well as the collective effort. The coordination mechanism is named the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG). See: <www.globalspaceexploration.org/>.

A. Boattini, G. D'Abramo, G.B. Valsecchi, et al., 2007, Earth, Moon and Planet, 100, 259, "The Campo Imperatore Near Earth Objects Survey (CINEOS)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007EM%26P..100..259B>.

J.K. Paty, W.U. Reimold, 2007, Journal of Earth System Science, 116, 81, "Impact cratering — fundamental process in geoscience and planetary science." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007JESS..116...81P>.

D.J. Scheeres, M. Abe, M. Yoshikawa, et al., 2007, Icarus, 188, 425, "The effect of YORP on Itokawa." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..188..425S>.

D.J. Scheeres, 2007, Icarus, 188, 430, "The dynamical evolution of uniformly rotating asteroids subject to YORP." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..188..430S>.

International meeting on minor bodies Meteoroids 2007, Barcelona (Spain), 11-15 June 2007. See: <www.spmn.uji.es/meteoroids-2007/>.

2007, Jun 14

Asteroid 2006 RH120 (H = 29.5 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2006+RH120+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_RH120>.
See also: <www.space.com/14037-earth-2-moons-asteroids-theories.html>.

2007, Jun 26-29

VIIth Workshop on Catastrophic Disruption in the Solar System, Alicante (Spain). See:
<irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/~sjb/CD07/CD07.htm>.

"Potentially hazardous Near Earth Objects coming to your neighborhood soon". See: <www.greatdreams.com/near.htm>.

Green.view, 2007, The Economist, 23 July 2007, The threat from outer space." See: <www.economist.com/node/9533468>.

F. Mellor, 2007, Social Studies of Science, 37, 499, "Colliding worlds: asteroid research and the legitimisation of war in space." See: <sss.sagepub.com/content/37/4/499>.

Earth-grazing fireball EN070807 passed through the upper Earth atmosphere with an orbit belonging to the rare Aten asteroid type. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPICo1405.8217S>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/acm2008/pdf/8217.pdf>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth-grazing_fireball>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ The_Great_Daylight_1972_Fireball#All_known_Earth-grazing _fireballs>.

2^nd European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC 2007), Potsdam (Germany). See: <www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=41>, <meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2007/>.

M. Delbò, A. Dell'Oro, A.W. Harris, et al., 2007, Icarus, 190, 236, "Thermal inertia of near-Earth asteroids and implications for the magnitude of the Yarkovsky effect." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..190..236D>.

W.U. Reimold, 2007, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 42, 1467, "The impact crater bandwagon. (Some problems with the terrestrial impact cratering record)" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007M%26PS...42.1467R>.

2007, Sep 5

Asteroid 2007 RS1 (H = 31.0 mag, D ≈ 3 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+RS1+&orb=1>.

W.F. Bottke, D. Vokrouhlický, D. Nesvorný, et al., 2007, Nature, 449, 48, "An asteroid breakup 160 Myr ago as the probable source of the K/T impactor."
See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Natur.449...48B>.
See also: <www.planetary.org/news/2007/0921_Ancient_Collision_between_Asteroids.html>.

2007, Sep 12-15

2^nd International Workshop on NEO Deflection Policy, Sibiu (Romania), organized by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE). See: <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/pres/stsc2008/tech-12.pdf>.

2007, Sep 15

Carancas Chondritic Meteorite Fall on the Altiplano at the Peru-Bolivia border, near the village of Carancas (Peru), forming a 15-m wide crater. Stony meteorite had original mass of 1-2 ton.
Ref:
- J. Borovička, P. Spurný, 2008, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 485, 1, "The Carancas  meteorite impact – encounter with a monolithic meteoroid." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008A%26A...485L...1B>;
- G. Tancredi, J. Ishitsuka, P. Schultz, et al., 2009, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 44, 1967, "A meteorite crater on Earth formed on September 15, 2007: the Carancas hypervelocity impact." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009M%26PS...44.1967T>.
See also: <news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070921-meteor-peru.html>, <www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/1535-when-space-attacks-6-craziest-meteor-impacts-history.html>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carancas_impact_event>.

2007, Sep 27

NASA spacecraft Dawn launched. Asteroid 4 Vesta (H = 3.20 mag, D = 530 km, main-belt asteroid) rendezvous in July 2011, leaving May 2012.  Dwarf planet 1 Ceres (H = 3.34 mag, D = 952 km) rendezvous in February 2015. End of primary mission July 2015.
See <dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/>.

A.W. Harris, 2007, American Astronomical Society DPS meeting #39, #50.01, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 39, 511, "An update of the population of NEAs and impact risk." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007DPS....39.5001H>.

2007, Oct 8

IAU General Secretary Karel A. van der Hucht informs the director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, host of the Minor Planet Center, of the full support of the IAU Executive Committee for the MPC and its new director, Timothy B. Spahr. The IAU GS expresses its gratitude to MPC director-emeritus Brian G. Marsden for directing the MPC during more than three decades in an outstanding way.

Tom Gehrels, founder of the Spacewatch project, named winner of the 2007 Harold Masursky Award by the the American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences at the DPS 39th annual meeting in Orlando (FL, USA). See: <uanews.org/node/16265>.

R.B. Firestone, A. West, J.P. Kennett, et al., 2007, Proc. National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 104, 16016, "Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling." See: <www.pnas.org/content/104/41/16016.full.pdf+html?sid=301c9f42-24c2-4ae5-b5e1-a813f27652da>.
See also: D.J. Kennett, J.P. Kennett, A. West, et al., 2009, Science, 323, 94, "Nanodiamonds in the Younger Dryas boundary sediment layer." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Sci...323...94K>.
But see also: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010DDA....41.0601H>.

Testimony of Russell L. Schweickart, chairman B612 Foundation, before the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology. See: <www.science.house.gov/publications/Testimony.aspx?TID=9743>, <democrats.science.house.gov/media/File/Commdocs/hearings/2007/space/08nov/Schweickart_testimony.pdf>.

2007, Oct 12

Asteroid 2007 TX22 (H = 28.4 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+TX22&orb=1>.

2007, Oct 17

Asteroid 2007 UO6 (H = 27.3 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+UO6&orb=1>.

2007, Oct 17

Asteroid 2007 UN12 (H = 28.7 mag, D ≈ 6 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+UN12+&orb=1>.

2007, Oct 18

Asteroid 2007 UD6 (H = 28.3 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+UD6+&orb=1>.

2007, Oct 19

ESA announced the results of its Cosmic Visions 2015 – 2025 call for proposals: seven space science missions selected for further study, including Marco Polo, a NEO rendezvous and sample-return mission. See: <www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM1IQAMS7F_index_0.html>.

2007, Oct 20-21

NASA Workshop on Low-Cost Missions to NEOs. NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View (CA, USA). See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=177>.

2007, Oct 30

Asteroid 2007 US51 (H = 27.2 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+US51+&orb=1>.

A.A. Christou, J. Oberst, D. Koschny, et al., 2007, Planetary and Space Science, 55, 2049, "Comparative studies of meteoroid-planet interaction in the inner solar system." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007P%26SS...55.2049C>.

R.R. Landis, D.J. Korsmeyer, P.A. Abell, et al., 2007, in: Proc. First International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos, 5-8 November 2007, Moffett Field (CA, USA). LPI Contribution No. 1377, p.24, "Prelude to human exploration of Phobos and Deimos: the NEO factor." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007epd..conf...24L>.

Asteroid 2007 VK184 (H = 22.0 mag, D ≈ 130 m) passed Earth at a nominal miss distance of 23.9 LD.  
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+VK184&orb=1>.
See also: 31 May 2048 

2007, Nov 8

Congressional hearings on Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) – Status of the Survey Program and Review of NASA's Report to Congress, for the US House of representatives, Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. Speakers included chairman Mark Udall, Rep. Luis G. Fortuno, Donald Campbell (Cornell University), Jim Green (NASA Hq), Scott Pace (NASA Hq), Russell L. Schweickart (B612 Foundation), Anthony Tyson (University of California at Davis), and Donald Yeomans (JPL). See: <democrats.science.house.gov/media/File/Commdocs/ hearings/2007/space/08nov/Tyson_testimony.pdf >, <www.plutotoday.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=25962>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=178>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=178>, <www.b612foundation.org/press/press.html> #17, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/Hearing_Charter.pdf>.

2007, Nov 14

Asteroid 2007 VF189 (H = 28.3 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+VF189+&orb=1>.

D.P. Rubincam, 2007, Icarus, 192, 460, "Orbital YORP and asteroid orbit evolution, with application to Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Icar..192..460R>.

2007, Dec 

Wording inserted into the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 (H.R. 3093): NASA is directed to provide additional funding for the Arecibo Observatory;  NASA shall contract with the National Research Council (NRC) to study the Arecibo issue and make recommendations; As part of its deliberations, the NRC shall review NASA’s report 2006 Near-Earth Object Survey and Deflection Study as well as any other relevant literature; An interim report with recommendations focusing primarily on the optimum approach to the survey program shall be submitted within 15 months of  enactment of this Act; The NRC study shall include an assessment of the costs of various alternatives, including options that may blend the use of different facilities (whether ground- or space-based), or involve international cooperation.  See: <www7.nationalacademies.org/ocga/laws/PL110-161.asp>.

2007, Dec 3

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14:  Interim Report (2007 – 2008). See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_L295E.pdf>.

2007, Dec 4

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS). Information on research in the field of NEOs carried out by Member States, international organizations and other entities. See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_896E.pdf>.

2007, Dec 10

Asteroide 3200 Phaethon (1983 TB, H = 14.51 mag, D = 5.1 km, M = 1.4 × 10¹⁴ kg, PHA, causing the annual Geminids meteor shower) passed Earth at 47.1 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1983+TB&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3200_Phaethon>.

2007, Dec 13

Asteroid 2007 XB23 (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.259 LD (= 99,530 km = 15.62 R_Earth from the geocenter). The asteroid will pass Earth closely again on 11 December 2024 at  1.1 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+XB23+&orb=1>.

2007, Dec 15

Asteroid 2007 YN1 (H = 25.0 mag, D ≈ 35 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+YN1+&orb=1>.

2007, Dec 27

Asteroid 2007 YP56 (H = 25.8 mag, D ≈ 25 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+YP56+&orb=1>.

5058 NEAs known, of which 911 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

2008     

The International Astronautical Federation creates an IAF Technical Committee on NEOs. See: <www.iafastro.net/?id=993>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres.stsc2009/tech-31.pdf>.

AsteroidFinder, a space project of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) approved, planned for launch in 2013 with an one-year baseline mission duration, with a 25-cm telescope mirror and a 2° × 2° FoV camera, to operate in a Sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit. The primary goals are to detect and track the population of NEOs interior to Earth’s orbit, and to determine their size distribution and  orbital properties, along with impact hazard assessment.
Ref:
- M. Drentschew, G.J. Hahn, E. Kührt, et al., 2008, Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2008, 14-18 July 2008, Baltimore (MD, USA), LPI Contribution No. 1405, paper id. 8125, "Modeling of the expected performance for the German AsteroidFinder." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPICo1405.8125D>;
- S. Mottola, A. Börner, J.T. Grundmann, G.J. Hahn, et al., 2008, Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2008, 14-18 July 2008, Baltimore (MD, USA), LPI Contribution No. 1405, paper id. 8140, "AsteroidFinder: a space-based search for IEOs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPICo1405.8140M>.
See also: <www.dlr.de/pf/Portaldata/6/Resources/asteroiden_und_kometen/DLR_AK_Report_2008.pdf>, <www.dlr.de/pf/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-174/319_read-18911/>, <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/pres/stsc2008/tech-13.pdf>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/acm2008/pdf/8140.pdf>,  <www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,684375,00.html>, <planetarydefense.blogspot.com/2010/03/dlr-asteroidfinder-project.html>.

R.P. Binzel, C.A. Thomas, A. Tokunaga, 2008, in: Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2008, 14-18 July 2008, Baltimore (MD, USA), LPI Contribution No. 1405, paper id. 8228, "Spectral properties of Near-Earth Object mission targets." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPICo1405.8228B>.

R.-M. Bonnet, L. Woltjer, 2008, Surviving 1000 Centuries (Berlin: Springer Praxis Books), p. 62, chapter 3.3, "Solar System hazards." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008stc..book.....B>.

P. Spurný, J. Boroviƒçka, Z. Ceplecha, L. Shrbený, 2008, in Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2008, 14-18 July 2008, Baltimore (MD, USA), LPI Contribution No. 1405, paper id. 8217, "Precise multi-instrument data on 45 fireballs recorded over central Europe in the period 2006-2008." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPICo1405.8217S>.

J.D. Giorgini, L. Benner, S.J. Ostro, et al., 2008, Icarus, 193, 1, "Predicting the Earth encounters of (99942) Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..193....1G>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/>.

B. Schmitz, D.A.T. Harper, B. Peucker-Ehrenbrink, et al., 2008, Nature Geoscience, 1, 49, "Asteroid breakup linked to the Great Ordovician Bio-diversification Event." See: <www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v1/n1/full/ngeo.2007.37.html>.

H.-K. Moon, Y.-I., Byon, S.N. Raymaond, T. Spahr, 2008, Icarus, 19, 53, "Realistic survey simulations for kilometer class near Earth objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..193...53M>.

2008, Jan 13

Asteroid 2008 AF3 (H = 26.4 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+AF3+&orb=1>.

First meeting International Primitive Body Exploration Working Group (IPEWG), Okinawa (Japan). JAXA will maintain website. See: <www.jspec.jaxa.jp/okinawa_index.html>, <www.jspec.jaxa.jp/IPEWG_circular_final-2.pdf>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/jan2009/presentations/Sykes_ipewg_SBAG.pdf>.

2008, Jan 16

Asteroid 2008 BW2 (H = 29.7 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+BW2+&orb=1>.

2008, Jan 29

Asteroid 2007 TU24 (H = 20.3 mag, D = 250 m, PHA) passed Earth at 1.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+TU24+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_TU24>.
Closest approach by a known asteroid of this size or larger until 2027. Radar detection was acquired on 23 January using the NASA Goldstone 70 m antenna, part of NASA's Deep Space network station in the Southern California Mojave Desert. See: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=1586>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080130.html>.

2008, Jan 30

Asteroid 2007 WD5 (H = 24.3 mag, D ≈ 50 m, NEO, discovered by the CSS) passed Mars within 26,100 km.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007+WD5+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_WD5>.
See also: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news151.html>, <uanews.org/node/17415>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-152>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news153.html>,
<impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=179>, <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007%20WD5;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=1#cad>.

2008, Jan 31

Asteroid 2008 BC15 (H = 26.6 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+BC15+&orb=1>.

R.W. Sinnott, 2008, Sky & Telescope, 115, no.2, p. 86, "Wouldn't a 300-meter asteroid be able to eclipse the Moon, if it should pass in front of it?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008S%26T...115R..86S>.

2008, Feb 5

Asteroid 2008 CT1 (H = 27.6 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.3 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+CT1+&orb=1>.

2008, Feb 6

Asteroid 2008 CE22 (H = 26.4 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+CE22&orb=1>.

2008, Feb 15

Asteroid 2008 CK70 (H = 25.2 mag, D ≈ 35 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+CK70&orb=1>.

Th. Graham, R.L. Schweickart, 2008, Scientific American, 18 February 2008, "NASA's flimsy argument for nuclear weapons." See: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nasas-flimsy-argument-for-nuclear-weapons>.

2008, Feb 18-19

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14 on NEOs meets in Vienna (Austria). Report 11 March 2008. See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_911E.pdf >.

2008, Feb 26

The Planetary Society Apophis Mission Design Competition results released. See: <planetary.org/programs/projects/near_earth_ objects/apophis_competition/rules.html>, <www.planetary.org/programs/projects/apophis_competition/update_20080226.html>, <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/NEO/SEMJCNM5NDF_0.html>.

2008, Mar

Small Bodies Assessment Group, chartered by NASA's Planetary Science Division to identify scientific priorities and opportunities for the exploration of asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust, small satellites, and Trans-Neptunian Objects. The group also provides scientific input on the utility of asteroids and comets in support of human space activities. See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/>.

R. Linfield, J. Vancleve, H.J. Reitsema, R. Arentz, 2008, in: Proc. 39^th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, League City (TX, USA), 10-14 March 2008, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX, LPI Contribution No. 1391, p. 1412, "Searching for Near Earth Objects from a Venus-like orbit." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPI....39.1412L>.
Read also:
- R. Linfield, J. Vancleve, H.J. Reitsema, R. Arentz, 2008, in: Proc. Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2008, 14-18 July 2008, Baltimore (MD, USA). LPI Contribution No. 1405, paper id. 8270, "Searching for Near Earth Objects: an IR telescope in a Venus-like orbit" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008LPICo1405.8270L>;
- B. Corbin, 2010, presented at the 61st International Astronautical Congress, Prague (Czech Republic), 27 September - 1 October 2010, "Implementing advanced technologies and models to reduce uncertainty in a global, cost-effective asteroid mitigation system". See: <spacegeneration.org/index.php/activities/current-projects/neo-working-group/move-an-asteroid>, <www.spacegeneration.org/index.php/eventstopics/news/227-sgac-announces-the-winner-of-the-2010-move-an-asteroid-competition>, <www.spacegeneration.org/images/stories/Projects/NEO/Corbin_Asteroid_Paper.pdf>.

2008, Mar 9

Asteroid 2008 EZ7 (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+EZ7+&orb=1>.

2008, Mar 10

Asteroid 2008 EF32 (H = 29.4 mag, D ≈ 5 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+EF32&orb=1>.

2008, Mar 10

Asteroid 2008 EM68 (H = 27.5 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+EM68+&orb=1>.

2008, Mar 23

Asteroid 2008 FK (H = 27.3 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+FK+&orb=1>.

2008, Mar 29

Asteroid 2008 FP (H = 26.4 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+FP&orb=1>.

A. Carusi, G. D'Abramo, G.B. Valsecchi, 2008, Icarus, 194, 450, "Orbital and mission planning constraints for the deflection of NEOs impacting on Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..194..450C>.

J. Davis, 2008, Astronomy, 36, No. 4, p. 34, "185 million years before the dinosaurs' demise, did an asteroid nearly end life on Earth?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Ast....36d..34D>.

M.A. McDonald, H.J. Melosh, S.P.S. Gulick, 2008, Geophysical Research Letters, 35(7), L07203, "Oblique impacts and peak ring position: Venus and Chicxulub." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008GeoRL..3507203M>.

2008, Apr 3

Asteroid 2008 GM2 (H = 28.4 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+GM2+&orb=1>.

2008, Apr 7

Asteroid 2008 GF1 (H = 28.3 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+GF1+&orb=1>.

Fall of the Berduc L6 Chondrite Meteorite. A daylight fireball was witnessed by hundreds of people from Argentina and Uruguay, and recorded by an infrasound array in Paraguay.
Ref:
-  J.M. Trigo-Rodriguez, J. Llorca, J.M. Madiedo, et al., 2010, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 45, 383, "The Berduc L6 chondrite fall: meteorite characterization, trajectory, and orbital elements." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PS...45..383T>.

2008, Apr 23-26

3^rd International Workshop on NEO Deflection Policy, Guácimo (Costa Rica), organized by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE). See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/workshop3.html>, <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/pres/stsc2008/tech-12.pdf>.

2008, May 10

Asteroid 2008 JL24 (H = 29.6 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+JL24+&orb=1>.

R. Brasser, P. Wiegert, 2008, Monthly Notices Royal Astronomical Society, 386, 2031, "Asteroids on Earth-like orbits and their origin." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008MNRAS.386.2031B>.

C.R. Chapman, 2008, Earth, Moon and Planets, 102, 417, "Meteoroids, meteors, and the Near-Earth Object impact hazard." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008EM%26P..102..417C>.

G. Drolshagen, V. Dikarev, M. Landgraf, 2008, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 102, 191, "Comparison of meteoroid flux models for near Earth space." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008EM%26P..102..191D>.

M.A. Sansaturio, O. Arratia, 2008, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 102, 425, "Apophis the story behind the scenes." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008EM%26P..102..425S>.

R.M. Suggs, W.J. Cooke, R.J. Suggs, et al., 2008, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 102, 293, "The NASA Lunar Impact Monitoring Program." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008EM%26P..102..293S>.

2008, Jun 5-6

First open Workshop on the ESA Marco Polo mission study, a NEO sample return mission within the ESA Cosmic Vision Program, La Croisette (Cannes, France). See:
<sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=42479>.

Editorial, Nature, 453, 1143, "The unlikely matters. The study of cosmic impacts and the effects they have offers two lessons for students of science." See: <www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7199/full/4531143a.html>.

D.I. Steel, 2008, Nature, 453, 1157, "Tunguska at 100." See: <www.nature.com/news/2008/080625/full/4531157a.html>.

E. Hand, 2008, Nature, 453, 1160, "The hole at the bottom of the moon." See: <www.nature.com/news/2008/080625/full/4531160a.html>.

D. Chandler, 2008, Nature, 453, 1164, "Planetary science: the burger bar that saved the world." Interviews with pioneers in the NEO field Clark Chapman, Tom Gehrels, Brian Marsden, Andrea Milani, David Morrison, Steve Ostro, Rusty Schweickart, and Carolyn Shoemaker. See: <www.nature.com/news/2008/080625/full/4531164a.html>.

NN, 2008, Nature, 453, 1170, "All crates great and small." See: <www.nature.com/news/2008/080625/full/4531170a.html>.

A.W. Harris, 2008, Nature, 453, 1178, "What Spaceguard did." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Natur.453.1178H>, <www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7199/full/4531178a.html>.

2008, Jun 26-28

International Conference 100 Years Since Tunguska Phenomenon: Past, Present and Future, Moscow (Russia), hosted by the Russian Academy of Sciences. Proceedings in: Solar System Research, 43, Nos. 4,5,6 (2009). See: <runners.ritsumei.ac.jp/cgi-bin/swets/volume-query-e?mode=0&key=S122060696421602&issn=&tr=Solar+System+Research>, <springerlink.com/content/106293/>.
See also: <tunguska.sai.msu.ru/content/abstract_all.pdf>, <smerdyachee.ucoz.ru/_ld/0/8_abstract_all.pdf>, <smerdyachee.ucoz.ru/_ld/0/8_abstract_all.pdf>, <tunguska.sai.msu.ru/index.php?q=index_e>.

J.K. Beatty, 2008, Sky & Telescope, "Tunguska: 100 years and counting." See: <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/22714594.html>.
See also: <news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7470283.stm>.

D.J. Korsmeyer, R.R. Landis, P.A. Abell, 2008, Acta Astronautica, 63, 213, "Into the beyond: a crewed mission to a near-Earth object." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008AcAau..63..213K>.

M. Klesius, 2008, Air & Space Magazine, July 01, 2008, "The million mile mission." A small band of believers urges NASA to take its next step—onto an asteroid. See: <www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Million_Mile_Mission.html>.

W.F. Bottke, 2008, Nature, 454, 173, "Asteroids: how to make a flying saucer." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Natur.454..173B>.

K.J. Walsh, D.C. Richardson, P. Michel, 2008, Nature, 454, 188, "Rotational breakup as the origin of small binary asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Natur.454..188W>.

R.L. Schweickart, 2008, presented at the 37^th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, "The asteroid impact threat: decisions upcoming." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008cosp...37.2792S>, <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/COSPAR-paper.pdf>.

2008, Jul 13-18

International conference on Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, X, Baltimore (MD, USA). Proceedings: … (eds.), Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2008. See: <acm2008.jhuapl.edu/>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/acm2008/pdf/program.pdf>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/acm2008/acm2008.authorindex.shtml>.

2008, Jul 23

Tajikistan superbolide. See: <www.bolides09.com/docs/bolides09_program.pdf>.

2008, Jul 29

Asteroid 2008 OT7 (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+OT7+&orb=1>.

Perseid Fireball seen over Vancouver (Canada).  See: <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080816.html>.

P. Vernazza, R.P. Binzel, C.A. Thomas, et al., 2008, Nature, 454, 858, "Compositional differences between meteorites and near-Earth asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Natur.454..858V>.

International Conference on Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution, IV, Vredefort Dome (South Africa). See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lmi2008/>,<www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2009EO010006.shtml>.

J. Durech, D. Vokrouhlický, M. Kaasalainen, et al., 2008, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 488, 345, "New photometric observations of asteroids (1862) Apollo and (25143) Itokawa – an analysis of YORP effect." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008A%26A...488..345D>.

R.A.F. Grieve, W.U. Reimold, J. Morgan, et al., 2008, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 43, 855, "Observations and interpretations at Vredefort, Sudbury, and Chicxulub: towards an empirical model of terrestrial impact basin formation." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008M%26PS...43..855G>.

2008, Sep 5

ESA spacecraft Rosetta flew at 803 km by asteroid 2867 Šteins (1969 VC, H = 12.9 mag, D = 6.7 × 5.8 × 4.5 km, main-belt asteroid).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1969+VC&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steins>.
Ref:
- K.-H. Glassmeier, H. Boehnhardt, D. Koschny, et al., 2007, Space Science Reviews, 128, 1, "The Rosetta mission: flying towards the origin of the Solar System." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007SSRv..128....1G>;
- P.R. Weissman,  M.D. Hicks, P.A. Abell, et al., 2008, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 43, 905, "Rosetta target asteroid 2867 Šteins: an unusual E-type asteroid." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008M%26PS...43..905W>;
- H.U. Keller, C. Barbieri, D. Koschny, et al., 2010, Science, 327, 190. "E-type asteroid (2867) Šteins as imaged by OSIRIS on board Rosetta". See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Sci...327..190K>.
See also: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=rosetta-starts-tracking-a>, <esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/rosetta/Rosetta_fact_sheetv3.pdf>, <www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM3LY2PGQD_index_0.html>, <planetary.org/news/2010/0111_Results_from_the_Rosetta_Encounter_with.html>, >, <www.nasa.gov/pdf/474203main_Coradini_ExploreNOW.pdf>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080908.html>.

European Planetary Science Congress 2008 (EPSC 2008), Münster (Germany), 21-26 September 2008. See: <meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2008/ >.

D.K. Yeomans, S. Bhaskaran, S. Broschart, et al., 2008, Near-Earth Object (NEO) analysis of transponder tracking and gravity tractor performance. A study, requested and funded by the B612 Foundation, carried out by JPL scientists to detemine the feasibility of using a gravity tractor concept for use in NEO impact mitigation and to build credibility for the concept. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/b612_report.html>, <www.b612foundation.org/papers/t-GT_summary.pdf>.

2008, Sep 22-25

4^th International Workshop on NEO Deflection Policy, San Francisco (CA, USA), organized by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE). See: <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/pres/stsc2008/tech-12.pdf>.

2008, Sep 25

The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Committee on Near-Earth Objects Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation (PATM) (chairman Russell Schweickart) presented its report Asteroid Threats: a Call for Global Response. See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/ATACGR.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-31.pdf>.

R.L. Schweickart, presentation to the International Astronautical Congress, Glasgow (Scotland, UK), 29 September - 3 October 2008, "Decision program on asteroid threat mitigation." See: <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/IAC08_paper.pdf>.

Black Mesa Bolide, seen over the Oklahoma panhandle's Black Mesa State Park in the Midwestern US. See: <farlimas.com/skyeye/skydatatext/space349text.html>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081011.html>.

2008, Oct 

Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search (LONEOS) discontinued the search for NEOs in favor of an asteroid photometric survey.

2008, Oct 3

Asteroid 2008 TN9 (H = 27.8 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.6 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+TN9&orb=1>.

2008, Oct 6

Asteroid 2008 TC3 (H = 30.7 mag, D ≈ 4 m) was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) Mt Lemmon Survey 1.5 telescope,  19 hr before disintegrating over the Nubian desert (northern Sudan). Before impact, the international observer community responded with 570 observations from 27 observers. A systematic search in the desert located 280 fragments with a total mass of 3.9 kg.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+TC3+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_TC3>.
Ref:
- P. Jenniskens, M.H. Shaddad, D. Numan, et al., 2009, Nature, 458, 485, "The impact and recovery of asteroid 2008 TC₃";
- Special Issue of Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 2010, 45, Issue 10-11, pp. 1553-1845, "2008 TC3 and Almahata Sitta." Dedicated to NEA 2008 TC3, impact on 6 October 2008. Editorial:  P. Jenniskens, M.H. Shaddad, 2010, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 45, 1553, "2008 TC3: the small asteroid with an impact." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PS...45.1553J>; 
- P. Jenniskens, J. Vaubaillon, R.P. Binzel, et al., 2010, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 45, 1590, "Almahata Sitta (= asteroid 2008 TC3) and the search for the ureilite parent body." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PS...45.1590J>;
- P. Scheirich, J. Durech, P. Pravec, 2010, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 45, 1804, "The shape and rotation of asteroid 2008 TC3"; ." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Natur.458..485J>;
- P. Jenniskens, M.H. Shaddad, & the Alamahata Sitta Consortium, 2010, in: J.A. Fernández, et al. (eds.), Icy Bodies of the Solar System, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 263, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 3-7 August 2010 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 227, "The unusually frail asteroid 2008 TC3." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010IAUS..263..227J>;
- E.Y. Aleshkina, V.V. Kupriyanov, A.V. Devyatkin, et al, 2011, Solar System Research, 45, 34, "Astrometric and photometric studies of the asteroid 2008 TC3." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011SoSyR..45...34A>;
- M.J. Kozubal, F.W. Forrest, R.F. Dantowitz, et al., 2011, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 46, 534, "Photometric observations of Earth-impacting asteroid 2008 TC₃";  ." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011M%26PS...46..534K>;
- T. Kohout, R. Kiuru, M. Montonen, et al., 2011, Icarus, 212, 697, "Internal structure and physical properties of the asteroid 2008 TC3 inferred from a study of the Almahata Sitta meteorites." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..212..697K>;
- D.P. Glavin, A.D. Aubrey, M.P. Callahan, et al., 2010, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 45, 1695, "Extraterrestrial amino acids in the Almahata Sitta meteorites." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PS...45.1695G>.
See also: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/2008tc3.html>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news163.html>, <www.planetary.org/news/2008/1006_BoulderSized_Asteroid_will_Burn_Up_in.html>, <www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7237/full/nature07920.html>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=asteroid-meteorite-sudan-fireball>, <www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/meteorite/>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-25.pdf>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081108.html>, <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090328.html>, <onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.2010.45.issue-10-11/issuetoc>, <www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/dec/HQ_10-340_Asteroid_Meteorite.html>.

2008, Oct 9

Asteroid 2008 TS26 (H = 33.2 mag, D ≈ 1 m) passed Earth at 0.033 LD (= 12,520 km = 1.97 R_Earth from the geocenter).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+TS26+&orb=1>.
See also: <www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2008/10/trio-of-asteroids-buzz-earth.html>.

2008, Oct 16

US President Bush signs NASA Authorization bill (H.R. 6063), which among other topics: requests information on: (1) a low-cost space mission with the purpose of rendezvous-ing with, attaching a tracking device, and characterizing the Apophis asteroid; and (2) a medium-sized space mission with the purpose of detecting NEOs with D > 140 m. Congress also requests that within two years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the OSTP shall (1) develop a policy for notifying Federal agencies and relevant emergency response institutions of an impending NEO threat, if near-term public safety is at risk; and (2) recommend a federal agency or agencies to be responsible for: (a) protecting the United States from a NEO that is expected to collide with Earth; and (b) implementing a deflection campaign, in consultation with international bodies, should one be necessary. See: <legislative.nasa.gov/PL%20110-422.pdf>.

2008, Oct 18

Asteroid 2008 UA202 (H = 29.4 mag, D ≈ 5 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+UA202+&orb=1>.

2008, Oct 20

Asteroid 2008 US (H = 31.6 mag, D ≈ 2 m) passed Earth at 0.081 LD (= 31,030 km = 4.87 R_Earth from the geocenter).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+US+&orb=1>.

2008, Oct 22

Asteroid 2008 UM1 (H = 32.1 mag, D ≈ 1m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+UM1+&orb=1>.

"Beyond the Moon. A New Roadmap for Human Space Exploration in the 21^st Century". Study report of The Planetary Society, advocating inter alia the exploration of Near Earth Asteroids by human spaceflight. See: <www.planetary.org/special/roadmap/beyond_the_moon.pdf>.

M. Delbò, P. Tanga, F. Mignard, 2008, Planetary and Space Science, 56, 1823, "On the detection of the Yarkovsky effect on near-Earth asteroids by means of Gaia." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008P%26SS...56.1823D>.

O. Vaduvescu, M. Birlan, F. Colas, et al., 2008, Planetary and Space Science, 56, 1913, "EURONEAR: first results." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008P%26SS...56.1913V>;

2008, Nov

ESA Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Preparatory Programme, a new ESA initiative, was accepted at the November 2008 Ministerial Conference in Den Haag (Netherlands) as a new optional programme of ESA, covering the time frame 2009 – 2011. SSA includes activities in three main domains: space surveillance, space weather, and Near Earth Objects (NEOs). As part of the SSA programme, the 1-m ESA Optical Ground Station has been made available for NEO observations for four nights every month starting in 2010. Full operational services are to be implemented in 2012-2019.
Ref:
-  Z. Sodnik, B. Furch, H.Lutz, Nov 2007, ESA Bulletin, No. 132, p. 34, "The ESA Optical Groundstation, ten years since First Light." See: <www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bulletin132/bul132d_sodnik.pdf >.
On 28/29 September 2011, a NEA was detected in this program for the first time: 2011 SF108, by the Teide Observatory Tenerife Asteroid Survey (TOTAS). See: <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SSA/SEMURW6UXSG_0.html>, <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SSA/SEMDQGCKP6G_2.html>.
See also: <www.esa.int/esaMI/Operations/SEMDPU3Z2OF_0.html>, <www.esa.int/esaMI/SSA/SEMDQGCKP6G_0.html >,
<www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-13.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-36.pdf>, <www.space.com/news/asteroid-threat-global-action-plan-101109.html>.

2008, Nov 3

Asteroid 2008 VM (H = 30.2 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 0.122 LD and the Moon at 0.984 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+VM+&orb=1>.

Asteroid  4179 Toutatis (1989 AC, H = 15.3 mag, D = 4.6×2.4×1.9  km, orbital P = 4.03 yr, PHA) passed Earth at 19.6 LD.
See: See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1989+AC&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4179_Toutatis>.

2008, Nov 16

Asteroid 2008 WO2 (H = 29.8 mag, D ≈ 4 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+WO2+&orb=1>.

Workshop on the Early Solar System Impact Bombardment, Houston (TX, USA), 19-20 November 2008. See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/bombardment2008/>.

2008, Nov 20

Buzzard Coulee Bright Fireball and Meteorite Fall (Saskatchewan, Canada). Estimated NEA entry mass M ≈ 15,000 kg.
Ref:
- A.R. Hildebrand, E.P. Miley, P.G. Brown, et al., 2009, 40^th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Science XL, 23-27 March 2009, The Woodlands (TX, USA), id. 2505, "Characteristics of a bright fireball and meteorite fall at Buzzard Coulee, Saskatchewan (Canada), 20 November 2008."  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009LPI....40.2505H>.
See also: <antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081125.html>.

L.A.M. Benner, S.J. Ostro, C. Magri, 2008, Icarus, 198, 294, "Near-Earth asteroid surface roughness depends on compositional class." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..198..294B>.

M.B.E. Boslough, D.A. Crawford, 2008, International Journal of Impact Engineering, 35, 1441, "Low-altitude airbursts and the impact threat."
See: <www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0734743X08001784>, <www.sandia.gov/ldrd/images/Posters/Boslough_Poster.pdf>, <share.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/asteroid.html>.

M.B.E. Boslough, A.W. Harris, 2008, in: American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #U41D-0034, "Global catastrophes in perspective: asteroid impact vs. climate change." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008AGUFM.U41D0034B>, <est.sandia.gov/earth/docs/AGU-2008-poster_SAND2009-1143P.pdf>.

G.R. Osinsky, J. Kieniewicz, J.R. Smith, M.B.E. Boslough, et al., 2008, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 43, 2089, "The Dakhleh Glass: product of an impact airburst or cratering event in the Western Desert of Egypt?" See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008M%26PS...43.2089O>.

M. Zavodny, R. Jedicke, E.C. Beshore, et al., 2008, Icarus, 198, 284, "The orbit and size distribution of small Solar System objects orbiting the Sun interior to the Earth's orbit." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Icar..198..284Z>.

2008, Dec 5

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS), Information on research in the field of NEOs carried out by Member States, international organizations and other entities. See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_926E.pdf>.

Colorado Fireball. See: <www.universetoday.com/21959/exploding-colorado-fireball-100-times-brighter-than-the-moon-video/>.

2008, Dec 6

Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), first telescope PS1 (Haleakala, Maui, HI, USA) operational, of four 1.8m telescopes, each with 3º FoV and 1.4 gigapixel camera.. The PS2 telescope is under construction. The PS3 and PS4 telecopes are as yet uncertain. With PS1 the available sky is being observed three times per month down to v = 24 mag. Regular observations started in March 2009, were suspended in September 2009, but resumed in May 2010. The favored location for PS4 is the site of the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope on Mauna Kea. Funding for the development of the observing system has been provided by the U.S. Air Force.
Ref:
- R. Jedicke, E.A. Magnier, N. Kaiser, et al., 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 341, "The next decade of Solar System discovery with Pan-STARRS." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..341J>;
- W. Burgett, N. Kaiser, 2009, in: S. Ryan (ed.), Proc. Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference, Wailea (Maui, HI, USA), 1-4 September 2009 (The Maui Economic Development Board), p. E39, "The Pan-STARRS Project: the next generation of survey astronomy has arrived."   See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009amos.confE..39B>. 
See also:  <pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/public>, <www.newscientist.com/article/dn9403>.

2008, Dec 10

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14, Interim Report (2008 – 2009). See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_L298E.pdf>.

Steven J. Ostro (1946-2008) passed away.
Ref:
- C. Anderson, 2008, Planetary News: Space People (2008), 16 December 2008, "Steven J. Ostro, 1946 - 2008." See: <www.planetary.org/news/2008/1216_Steven_J_Ostro_1946__2008. html>;
- K. Beatty, 2008, Sky & Telescope, 18 December 2008, "Remembering Steven Ostro", See: <www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/36421054.html>.
- D. Morrison, 2008, Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards, 30 December 2008,  "Death of Steve Ostro (1946-2008)." See: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=180>;
- A.W. Harris, 2009, American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #29.01, "Steven J. Ostro: Pioneer in asteroid lightcurve inversion." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009DPS....41.2901H>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=180>, <www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001774>, <www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001976/>, <echo.jpl.nasa.gov/ostro_symposium/ostro_symposium.html>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_J._Ostro>.

Asteroid 2008 EV5 (H = 20.0 mag, D = 450 ± 50 m, PHA) passed Earth at 8.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008+EV5+&orb=1>.
Ref:
-  M.W. Busch, S.J. Ostro, L.A.M. Benner, et al., 2011, Icarus, 212, 649, "Radar observations and the shape of Near-Earth Asteroid 2008 EV5."  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..212..649B>, <www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=58381&p=3&topicID=23138860>.

5861 NEAs known, of which 1010 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

2009

The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC, Vienna, Austria), in the context of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, launched its initiative Move an Asteroid 2009. The Winner of the competition, announced on 26 August 2009, is Sini Merikallio of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki (Finland) with the paper: "Moving an asteroid with electric solar wind sail". See: <www.spacegeneration.org/asteroid>.

2009

The IAU Minor Planet Center is funded over 90% through a grant from NASA's Planetary Science Division. This grant enabled the MPC to hire two additional staff members, and will support funding at this level for the next 2.5 years. The MPC is operated at the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge (MA, USA) and supported by the IAU and sponsors, including the Tamkin Foundation. The MPC is responsible for the collection, validation and distribution of all positional measurements made worldwide of minor planets, comets and other irregular natural satellites. While the MPC handles data on all classes of object, it focuses on the rapid collection and distribution of observations and information on the orbits of NEOs. The MPC is now fully upgraded to LINUX-based processors; it processes all observations received world-wide each night within the next day; its database contains over 68,000,000 observations and over 475,000 orbits for minor planets. NEO observations are identified and processed on receipt in near-real-time. Suspected discoveries are automatically posted to the NEO Confirmation Page.
See: <www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-39.pdf>, <targetneo.jhuapl.edu/pdfs/sessions/TargetNEO-Session2-Spahr.pdf>.

A.W. Harris, P. Abell, L.A.M. Benner, et al. 2009, in: Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey, Science White Papers, no. 113, "Surveying the inner Solar System." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009astro2010S.113H>.

L.D. Schmadel, 2009, Dictionary of minor planet names: Addendum to the fifth edition (Berlin: Springer). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009dmpn.book.....S>.

A. Tudorica, R. Toma, A.B. Sonka, et al., 2009, American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #27.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 41, 557, "EURONEAR - the first 100 NEA's observed."  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009DPS....40.2709T>.

P.A. Abell, D.J. Korsmeyer, R.R. Landis, et al., 2009, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 44, 1825, "Scientific exploration of near-Earth objects via the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009M%26PS...44.1825A>.

D. Koschny, J. McAuliffe, 2009, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 44, 1871, "Estimating the number of impact flashes visible on the Moon from an orbiting camera." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009M%26PS...44.1871K >.

J. Morrow, R. Gibson, W.U. Reimold, 2009, Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 90, 4, "Impact cratering and its planetary and environmental effects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009EOSTr..90....4M>.

2009, Jan

International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) report Dealing with the threat to Earth from Asteroids and Comets, Ivan Bekey (ed.). See: <iaaweb.org/iaa/Scientific%20Activity/Study%20Groups/SG%20Commission%203/sg35/sg35finalreport.pdf> .

R.A. Kerr, 2009, Science, 323, 26, "Did the mammoth slayer leave a diamond calling card?" See: <www.sciencemag.org/content/323/5910/26.summary>.

D.J. Kenneth, J.P. Kenneth, A. West, 2009, Science, 323, 94, "Nanodiamonds in the Younger Dryas Boundary sediment layer." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Sci...323...94K>, <www.sciencemag.org/content/323/5910/26.summary>.

Inaugural Meeting NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG), Adelphi (MD, USA). See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/jan2009/minutes.shtml>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/jan2009/resp_to_Findings.pdf>.

2009, Jan 14-15

ESA Workshop on Guidance, Navigation, Control (GNC) for Small Body Missions, Noordwijk (Netherlands). See: <www.congrex.nl/09m01/>.

A.W. Harris, E.G. Fahnestock, P. Pravec, 2009, Icarus, 199, 310, "On the shapes and spins of “rubble pile” asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..199..310H>.

B. Napier, D. Asher, 2009, Astronomy & Geophysics, 50, 1.18, "The Tunguska impact event and beyond." See: <onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2009.50118.x/abstract>.

2009, Feb 2

Asteroid 2009 CC2 (H = 27.8 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+CC2+&orb=1>.

J. Matson, 2009, Scientific American, 12 February 2009, "Close encounters of the worst kind: how safe are we from killer asteroids?" See: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=killer-asteroids-how-safe-are-we>.

2009, Feb 16-17

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14 on NEOs under the Chairmanship of Richard Crowther (UK) met in Vienna (Austria) during the 46^th session of its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, to review the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Committee on Near-Earth Objects Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation (chair Russell L. Schweickart) report Asteroid Threats: a Call for Global Response (see 25 September 2008), and as a result developed UN document A/AC.105/C.1/2009/CRP.13 dated 17 February 2009, outlining draft international procedures to respond to NEO threat for consideration by UN-COPUOS Member States. Report 6 March 2009. See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_933E.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_2009_CRP13E.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-06.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-13.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-20.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-24.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-25.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-26.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-27.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-29.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-30.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2009/tech-31.pdf>, <otrans.3cdn.net/d564a979a458d455eb_1flm6pc5h.pdf>, <www.newswise.com/articles/view/546932/?sc=dwtr;xy=5028369>.

2009, Feb 26

Asteroid 2009 DT43 (H = 26.7 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+DT43+&orb=1>.

2009, Feb 27

Asteroid 2009 EJ1 (H = 28.3 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+EJ1+&orb=1>.

M. di Martino, A. Carbognani, A. Cellino, et al., 2009, The Asteroid Hazard - Evaluating and Avoiding the Threat of Asteroid Impacts, ESA SP-1310 (Noordwijk: ESA Communication Production Office). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009ESASP1310.....D>.
Translated and updated from M. Di Martino (ed.), 2005, Il Rischio Asteroid.

A.C. Charania, 2009, in: Space, Propulsion & Energy Sciences International Forum: SPESIF-2009, AIP Conf. Proc., 1103, 393, "Initial assessment of recent NEO response strategies for the United Nations." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AIPC.1103..393C>, <www.astrosociology.org/Library/PDF/Charania_SPESIF2009.pdf>.

T. Kwiatkowski, A. Kryszczyńska, M. Polińska, et al., 2009, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 495, 967, "Photometry of 2006 RH 120: an asteroid temporary captured into a geocentric orbit." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009A%26A...495..967K>.

2009, Mar 2

Asteroid 2009 DD45 (H = 25.8 mag, D ≈ 25 m) passed Earth at 0.19 LD (= 72,200 km = 11.3 R_Earth from the geocenter).
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+DD45+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_DD45>.
See also: <www.newscientist.com/article/dn 16697-tunguskasized-space-rock-buzzes-earth.html>, <ow.ly/3Koh1>.

2009, Mar 6

Asteroid 2009 EW (H = 26.4 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+EW+&orb=1>.

2009, Mar 18

Asteroid 2009 FH (H = 26.6 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+FH&orb=1>.

2009, Mar 19

Asteroid 2009 FK (H = 28.3 mag, D ≈ 8 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+FK+&orb=1>.

2009, Mar 27

Brian G. Marsden (Minor Planet Center emeritus-director), June 2009, IAU Information Bulletin No. 104, p. 67, "History of the Minor Planet Center." See: <www.iau.org/static/publications/IB104.pdf>.
At the time of writing, the MPC files counted 210,454 numbered minor planets. The total number of observations of minor planets in the MPC files in mid-2008 was 55.4 million.

R.P. Binzel, A.S. Rivkin, C.A. Thomas, et al., 2009, Icarus, 200, 480, "Spectral properties and composition of potentially hazardous asteroid (99942) Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..200..480B>.

P. Vernazza, R.P. Binzel, A. Rossi, M. Fulchignoni, M. Birlan, 2009, Nature, 458, 993, "Solar wind as the origin of rapid reddening of asteroid surfaces." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Natur.458..993V>.

2009, Apr 23-24

Conference on Near-Earth Objects: Risks, Responses and Opportunities – Legal Aspects, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln (NE, USA), hosted by Frans G. von der Dunk. See: <conferences.unl.edu/nearearthobject/>, <spaceandtelecomlaw.unl.edu/conferences/lincolnconference/archive>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-25.pdf>.

L. Lucchetti, 2009, LLNL Comminity News - Lab News 2(16), "Averting asteroid danger with a nuclear nudge." See: <newsline.llnl.gov/_rev02/articles/2009/apr/04.24.09-dearborn.php>, <www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=back-off-asteroids--weve-got-nukes-2010-05-26>, <www.space.com/8666-nuclear-bombs-save-earth-asteroids.html>.

2009, Apr 27-30

1^st International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting the Earth from Asteroids, Granada (Spain), co-sponsored by ESA and The Aerospace Corporation. See: <www.congrex.nl/09c04/>. Key points and recommendations: <www.nss.org/resources/library/planetary defense/WhitePaper-2009PlanetaryDefenseConference.pdf>, 
Summary: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=181>.

D.K. Yeomans, S. Bhaskaran, S.R. Broschart, S.R. Chesley, P.W. Chodas, T.H., Sweetser, R.L. Schweickart, presented at 1st International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids, Granada (Spain), 27-30 April 2009, "Deflecting a hazardous Near-Earth Object." See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/PDC_proceedings_062009.doc>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/pdc_paper.html>.

E. Asphaug, 2009, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 37, 413, "Growth and evolution of asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AREPS..37..413A>.

M. Brozovic, S.J. Ostro, L.A.M. Benner, et al., 2009, Icarus, 201, 153, "Radar observations and a physical model of asteroid 4660 Nereus, a prime space mission target." NEA, 1982 DB, H = 18.2, D ≈ 800 m, PHA. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..201..153B>.
See also 2002, 2021, 2060, 2071, and 2166.

L. Lyytinen, L. Jetsu, P. Kajatkari, S. Porceddu, 2009, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 499, 601, "Detection of real periodicity in the terrestrial impact crater record: quantity and quality requirements." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009A%26A...499..601L>.

2009, May 5

Asteroid 2009 JF1 (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+JF1+&orb=1>.

2009, May 10-15

International Conference on Bolides and Meteorite Falls, Prague, Czech Republic. See: <www.bolides09.com/docs/bolides09_program.pdf>.

2009, May 13

Asteroid 2009 JL2 (H = 26.0 mag, D ≈ 20 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+JL2+&orb=1>.
See also: <www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=newfound-asteroid-will-pass-by-eart-2010-04-08>.

2009, May 18-20

ESA International Symposium Marco Polo and Other Small Body Return Missions, Paris, France. See: <sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=43784>.

2009, May 21

O. Abramov, S.J. Mojzsis, 2009, Nature, 459, 419, "Microbial habitability of the Hadean Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment." Ancient asteroid storm may have aided the emergency of life. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Natur.459..419A>.
See also: <planetary.org/news/2009/0529_Ancient_Asteroid_Storm_May_ have_Aided.html>.

B.G. Marsden, 2009, IAU Information Bulletin, No.104, p. 67, "History of the Minor Planet Center." See: <www.iau.org/static/publications/IB104.pdf>.

2009, Jun 1

Asteroid 2009 KR21 (H = 26.8 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+KR21+&orb=1>.

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS, 52^nd session) and Action Team 14 on NEOs, chaired by Richard Crowther (UK), meets in Vienna (Austria). See: <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/gadocs/A_64_20E.pdf>.

2009, Jun 4

Steven J. Ostro Memorial Symposium on Planetary Radar and Near-Earth Objects, JPL, Pasadena (CA, USA).
Ref:
-  S.J. Ostro, J.D. Giorgini, L.A.M. Benner, 2007, in: A. Milani, G.B. Valsecchi & D. Vokrouhlický (eds.), Proc. IAU Symp. No. 236 on Near Earth Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, Prague (Czech Republic), 14-18 August 2006 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 143, "Radar reconnaissance of near-Earth asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUS..236..143O>.
See also:  <echo.jpl.nasa.gov/ostro_symposium/ostro_symposium.html>, <www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001976/>.

ESA Space Science, 5 June 2009, ESA Mars Express, "Craters and channels in Hephaestus Fossae." See: <www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMSKCVTGVF_index_0.html>.

L. David, 2009, Space.com, "Military hush-up: incoming space rocks now classified." See: <www.space.com/news/090610-military-fireballs.html>.

2009, Jun 12, 14

Asteroid 136617 (1994 CC, H = 17.7 mag, D ≈ 700 m, PHA) passed Earth at 6.6 LD.
Observed with NASA Goldstone Solar System Radar (CA, USA). The asteroid appeared to be a triple system, each of the two moons with D ≈ 50 m.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1994+CC&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(136617)_1994_CC>.
Ref:
-  J. Fang, J.-L. Margot, M. Brozovic, et al., 2011, Astronomical Journal, 141, 154, "Orbits of Near-Earth Asteroid triples 2001 SN263 and 1994 CC: properties, origin, and evolution." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011AJ....141..154F>;
- M. Brozović, L.A.M. Benner, P.A. Taylor, et al., 2011, Icarus, 216, 241, "Radar and optical observations and physical modeling of triple near-Earth Asteroid (136617) 1994 CC." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..216..241B>.
See also: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2259>.

O. Vaduvescu, L. Curelaru, M. Birlan, 2009, Astronomische Nachrichten, 330, 698, "EURONEAR: data mining of asteroids and Near Earth Asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AN....330..698V>.

L. David, 2009, Space.com, "Military seeks common ground with scientists on Fireball data flap." See: <www.space.com/news/090610-military-fireballs.html>.

2009, Jul 13

Review of report Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies, Survey/Detection Panel, Santa Fe (NM, USA). See: <www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/meetingview. aspx?MeetingID=3445&MeetingNo=4>, <www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12842>.

C.R. Chapman, A.W. Harris, 2009, in: 72^nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, Nice (France), "Near-Earth asteroid/meteoroid impacts: prospects for linking telescopic observations with recovered meteorites." See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2009/pdf/5041.pdf>, <www.boulder.swri.edu/clark/metsoc09.ppt>.

2009, Jul 19

Impact on Jupiter of an asteroid, D ≈ 0.2 – 0.5 km.
Ref:
- A. Sánchez-Lavega, A. Wesley, G.S. Orton, et al., 2010, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 715, L155, "The impact of a large object on Jupiter in 2009 July." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...715L.155S>;
- G.S. Orton, L.N. Fletcher, P.W. Chodas, et al., 2011, Icarus, 211, 587, "The atmospheric influence, size and possible asteroidal nature of the July 2009 Jupiter impactor." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..211..587O>.
See also: <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=182>,  <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-028&cid=release_2011-028&msource=11028&tr=y&auid=7679941>.

ESA Space Science, 24 July 2009, ESA Mars Express, "Craters, lava flows and tectonic features near Ma'adim Vallis." See: <www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMQU2E3GXF_index_0.html>.

2009, Jul 25-26

First Asian Asteroid Observation Network Meeting, Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing (China), with participants from China, Finland, Japan, Taiwan, and Uzbekistan. Establishment of the Asian Asteroid Observation Network. See: <english.pmo.cas.cn/ic/ic/200908/t20090826_34050.html>, <english.pmo.cas.cn/rh/dcm/nsb/200908/t20090831_35079.html>.

2009, Jul 29

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides news updates on objects approaching Earth on its web site Asteroid Watch. See:  <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch>.

W.F. Huebner, L.N. Johnson, D.C. Boice, 2009, Solar System Research, 43, 334, "A comprehensive program for countermeasures against potentially hazardous objects (PHOs)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009SoSyR..43..334H>.

F. Jourdan, P.R. Renne, W.U. Reimold, 2009, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 286, 1, "An appraisal of the ages of terrestrial impact structures." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009E%26PSL.286....1J>.

IAU Symposium No. 263 on Icy Bodies of the Solar System, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Proceedings: J.A. Fernández, D. Lazzaro, D. Prilanik, R. Schulz (eds.), 2010, Icy Bodies of the Solar System (Cambridge: CUP). See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010IAUS..263.....F>.

2009, Aug 12

U.S. National Research Council report Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Interim Report. See: <www.nap.edu/catalog/12738.html >, <www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12842>, <usgovinfo.about.com/b/2009/08/18/nasa-says-cannot-afford-to-track-asteroids.htm>.

International Conference Near-Earth Astronomy 2009, Kazan (Russian Republic). See: <www.ksu.ru/astrcongr/index.php?id=1&num=2>.

H. Campins, M.S. Kelley, Y. Fernández, et al., 2009, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 105, 159, "Low perihelion Near-Earth Asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009EM%26P..105..159C>.

S.R. Chesley, A. Milani, D. Tholen, et al., 2009, AAS-DPS, 41.4306, "An updated assessment of the impact threat from 99942 Apophis." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009DPS....41.4306C>.

C.R. Chapman, A.W. Harris, 2009, in: Proc. 72nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 13-18 July, Nancy (France), Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, p.5041,  "Near-Earth asteroid/meteoroid impacts: prospects for linking telescopic observations with recovered meteorites." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009M%26PSA..72.5041C>, <www.boulder.swri.edu/clark/metsoc09.ppt#373,1>.

R.L. Jones, S.R. Chesley, A.J. Connolly, A.W. Harris, et al., 2009, Earth, Moon, and Planets, 105, 101, "Solar System science with LSST." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009EM%26P..105..101J>.

European Planetary Science Congress 2009 (EPSC 2009), Potsdam (Germany), 13-18 September 2009. See: <meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2009/>.

2009, Sep 21-25

International Asteroid-Comet Hazard 2009, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation), 21-25 September 2009. See: <www.ipa.nw.ru/conference/ach2009/>. Proceedings: A.M. Finkelstein, W.F. Huebner & V.A. Shor (eds.), 2010, Protecting the Earth against collisions with asteroids and comet nuclei (Saint Petersburg: Nauka). See: <ftp://quasar.ipa.nw.ru/pub/ACHBOOK_2009/ach-2009_book.pdf>.

Grimsby Fall and Fireball event. Meteorites fell in the area of Grimsby (Ontario, Canada) on the early evening of 25 September 2009. As of mid-2010, 13 fragments totaling 215 g of a fresh H5 chondrite have been recovered. Records of the accompanying fireball from the Southern Ontario Meteor Network, including six all-sky video cameras, a large format CCD, infrasound and radar records, have been used to characterize the trajectory, speed, orbit, and initial mass of the meteoroid: 20-50 kg.
Ref:
- P.J.A. McCausland, P.G. Brown, A.R. Hildebrand, et al., 2010, presented at 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 1-5 March 2010, The Woodlands (Texas, USA), LPI Contribution No. 1533, p. 2716, "Fall of the Grimsby H5 chondrite." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010LPI....41.2716M>;
- P. Brown, P.J.A. McCausland, M. Fries, et al., 2011, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 46, 339, "The fall of the Grimsby meteorite—I: Fireball dynamics and orbit from radar, video, and infrasound records."  See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011M%26PS...46..339B>.
See also: <meteor.uwo.ca/research/fireball/events/grimsby/overview.html>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2010/pdf/2716.pdf>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IyPvX7ELDE>.

A. Milani, S.R. Chesley, M.E. Sansaturio, et al., Icarus, 203, 460, "Long term impact risk for (101955) 1999 RQ." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..203..460M>.

P. Vereš, R. Jedicke, R. Wainscoat, et al., 2009, Icarus, 203, 472, "Detection of Earth-impacting asteroids with the next generation all-sky surveys." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..203..472V>.

2009, Oct 1

Asteroid 2009 TB (H = 28.9 mag, D ≈ 5 m) passed Earth at 0.2 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+TB+&orb=1>.

2009, Oct 5

Asteroid 2009 TD17 (H = 27.7 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+TD17+&orb=1>.

NASA scientists refine asteroid Apophis' path toward Earth. Updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036, for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news164.html>.

G. Musser, 2009, Scientific American, p. 109, "Planetary bombardments, past and future: third dispatch from the annual planets meeting." See: <blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2009/10/08/planetary-bombardments-past-and-future-third-dispatch-from-the-annual-planets-meeting/>.

2009, Oct 8

Asteroid 2009 TU (H = 27.4 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.8 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+TU+&orb=1>.

2009, Oct 8

Bone Fireball (South Sulawesi, Indonesia), a bolide exploding with an energy of  40-50 kT TNT. Incoming object probably with D ≈ 5 – 10 m. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news165.html#report>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeQBzTkJNhs&videos=jkRJgbXY-90>, <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/65960457.html>, <lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/2009/10/indonesia-meteormeteorite-news.html>, <scienceblips.dailyradar.com/video/benda-mirip-meteor-jatuh-di-bone-sulawesi-utara/>, <www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/25991/?p1=A3>.

2009, Oct 12-16

International Symposium on Hazardous Near Earth Asteroids, Valletta (Malta). Organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences, with support and participation of ESA.  See: <nea2009.cosmos.ru/>, <iya2009malta.page.tl/International-Symposium-on-Near_Earth-Hazardous-Asteroids.htm>.

Netherlands fireball. Hundred of people in the Netherlands and Germany reported seeing a fireball streak across the twilight sky around 7 p.m. See: <www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002166/>, <news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091015-fireball-explodes-netherlands-germany-picture.html>, <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091015.html>.

2009, Oct 17

Asteroid 2009 TM8 (H = 28.6 mag, D ≈ 7 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+TM8+&orb=1>.

2009, Oct 22

Presentation of the Review of the U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, chair Norman R. Augustine: Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation. The Review suggests manned spaceflight to an NEA, among other future destinations for exploration. See: <www.nasa.gov./offices/hsf/meetings/10_22_pressconference.html>, <www.nasa.gov./pdf/396093main_HSF_Cmte_FinalReport.pdf>.

M. di Martino, 2009, in: Ecole Internationale Daniel Chalonge, Torino Cosmology Colloquium Latest news from the Universe, Turin, 21-24 October 2009, p. 17, "Discovery of a recent impact crater." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009lnu..confE..17D>, <ecolechalongetorino.oato.inaf.it/lectures/DIMARTINO.pdf>.

R. Firestone, 2009, Journal of Cosmology, 2, 256, "The case for the Younger Dryas extraterrestrial impact event: mammoth, megafauna and Clovis extinction." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009JCos....2..256F>.

R. Crowther, 2009, Journal of Cosmology, 2, 411, "Near Earth Object (NEO) impact threat: an international policy response." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009JCos....2..411C>.

R.L. Schweickart, 2009, Acta Astronautica, 65, 1402, "Decision program on asteroid threat mitigation", See: <www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576509002161>.

2009, Nov 6

Asteroid 2009 VA (H = 28.6 mag, D ≈ 7 m) passed Earth at 0.053 LD (= 20,450 km ≈ 3.21 R_Earth from the geocenter). Discovered 15 hours before closest approach. Third closest (non-impacting) Earth approach on record for catalogued asteroids.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+VA&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_VA>.
See also: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news166.html>.

The First Arab Impact Cratering and Astrogeology Conference, Amman (Jordan), 9-11 November 2009. See: <www.aaru.edu.jo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=229&Itemid=38>, <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PS...45..157R>.

2009, Nov 12

Asteroid 2009 VZ39 (H = 28.1 mag, D ≈ 9 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+VZ39+&orb=1>.

2009, Nov 15

Asteroid 2009 WP6 (H = 26.8 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.7 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+WP6+&orb=1>.

2009, Nov 16

Asteroid 2009 WQ6 (H = 29.2 mag, D ≈ 5 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+WQ6+&orb=1>.

Utah Fireball. A remarkable midnight fireball was seen over parts of the western USA: Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, that "turned night into day". Infrasound measurements suggest a sporadic asteroid not associated with the Leonid debris stream of 17 November. The space rock exploded in the atmosphere with an energy equivalent to 0.5 - 1 kilotons of TNT". See: <www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=18&month=11&year=2009>, <video.google.com/videosearch?q=Fireball+Utah,+November+18+2009&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ADBF_nl&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=3t2MS5b_BMzc-Qa13NDjDQ&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBMQqwQwAw#>.

Second NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group Meeting, Boulder (CO, USA). See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/sbag2/agenda.shtml>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/sbag2/meeting_notes_091119.pdf>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/sbag2/findings_final_091119.pdf>.

2009, Nov 20

Asteroid 2009 WJ6 (H = 27.6 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.5 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+WJ6+&orb=1>.

2009, Nov 24

Asteroid 2009 WV51 (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.4 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009+WV51+&orb=1>.

2009, Nov 27

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS).  Action Team 14 on Near-Earth Objects, Interim Report (2009 – 2010).  See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_L301E.pdf>.

C.R. Chapman, 2009, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SA12B-03, "Asteroids shedding meteoroids...or becoming bolides." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AGUFMSA12B..03C>.

A.W. Harris, 2009, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #PP33B-05, "Cosmic impact: what are the odds?"See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AGUFMPP33B..05H>.

U.G. Jørgenson, P.W.U. Appel, Y. Hatsukawa, R. Frei, M. Oshima, Y. Toh, A. Kimura, Icarus, 204, 368, "The Earth-Moon system during the late heavy bombardment period - Geochemical support for impacts dominated by comets." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..204..368G>.

R.R. Landis, P.A. Abell, D.J. Korsmeyer, et al., 2009, Acta Astronautica, 65, 1689, "Piloted operations at a near-Earth object (NEO)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AcAau..65.1689L>.

D.K. Yeomans, A. Chamberlin, S. Chesley, P.W. Chodas, 2009, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #NH32A-02, "Issues that drive Near-Earth Object mitigation responses." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AGUFMNH32A..02Y>.

2009, Dec 1

ESA Marco Polo assessment study report (SRE-2009-3), a NEA sample return mission, presented. Six year mission, 17 months at the asteroid. Junior partners: JAXA (from Hayabusa heritage: guidance, navigation and control) and NASA (SALMON: hardware and software components). Mission profile: launch Nov/Dec 2018; rendezvous with NEA 162173 (1999 JU3,  H = 19.18 mag, D ≈ 920m, PHA) in February 2022; return to Earth in December 2024.
Ref:
- H. Campins, J.P. Emery, M. Kelley, et al., 2009, Astronomy & Astrophysics (Letters), 503, L17, "Spitzer observations of spacecraft target 162173 (1999 JU3)"; See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009A%26A...503L..17C>.
- T.G. Müller, J. Ďurech, S. Hasegawa, et al., 2011, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525, id.A145, "Thermo-physical properties of 162173 (1999 JU3), a potential flyby and rendezvous target for interplanetary missions." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011A%26A...525A.145M>.
See also: <sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=46019#>,
<sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=44880>. On 26 January 2010, the project has been shelved by ESA.

2009, Dec 5-15

Workshop on asteroid 2008 TC3, University of Khartoum (Khartoum, Sudan). See: <asima.seti.org/2008TC3/workshop2008TC3.html>.

2009, Dec 13/14

Geminids meteor shower, having its origin from NEA 3200 Phaethon (1983 TB, H = 14.51 mag, D = 5.1 km, M = 1.4 × 10¹⁴ kg, PHA). The asteroid has a trail of pebble- and dust-sized debris, causing a meteor shower when Earth crosses the trail. Asteroid 3200 Phaethon was detected by IRAS on 11 October 1983. It approaches the Sun closer than any other numbered asteroid: its perihelion is 0.14 AU, less than half Mercury's perihelion distance. 3200 Phaethon is possibly an old comet core. Its closest approach to Earth within the next 190 yr will occur on 14 December 2093 at 7.7 LD. See: <www.space.com/10467-geminids-shower-meteor-gems-skywatchers-week.html>, <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091217.html>, <apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091219.html>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3200_Phaethon>.

2009, Dec 14

Launch of NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The WISE instrument is a four-channel imager which operates in a single mode, taking overlapping snapshots of the sky. It includes a 40-cm telescope; a 47' FoV;   1024² HgCdTe and Si:As detector arrays at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm; a resolution of 6" (12" at 22 μm); a two-stage solid-hydrogen cryostat with an expected 10-month lifetime. WISE will detect hundreds of thousands of asteroids. Some 100,000 previously unknown main-belt asteroids with D > 3 km in diameter and some 200 new NEAs, with diameters D > ~100 m, are expected to be discovered during the six-month prime mission of WISE. NEO-WISE is a program to identify previously unknown moving object candidates and report them promptly to the Minor Planet Center so that they can be recovered with ground-based telescopes during their discovery apparitions.
Ref:
-  E.L. Wright, P.R.M. Eisenhardt, A.K. Mainzer, et al., 2010, Astronomical Journal, 140, 1868, "The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): mission description and initial on-orbit performance." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010AJ....140.1868W>.
See also: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AAS...21345906M>, <wise.ssl.berkeley.edu>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2460>,  <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2612>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/wise/>, <wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/documents/WISESPIE_2008.pdf?product_id=790087>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/sbag2/presentations/Mainzer_WISE.pdf>.

2009, Dec 18

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS), Information on research in the field of NEOs carried out by Member States, international organizations and other entities. Document: A/AC.105/949. See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_949E.pdf>.

2009, Dec 29

NASA selects three proposals as candidates for the agency's next space venture to another celestial body. After selection in mid-2011, the selected mission must be ready for launch no later than 30 December 2018. One of the three candidates is the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (Osiris-REx), which would rendezvous and orbit an asteroid, possibly asteroid 101955 (1999 RQ36, H = 20.8 mag, D ≈ 560 m, PHA). After extensive measurements, instruments would collect more than two ounces of material from the asteroid's surface for return to Earth. P.I.: Michael Drake, University of Arizona (Tucson, USA). 
See: <osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu/>.
Ref:
- A. Milani, S.R. Chesley, M.E. Sansaturio, et al., 2009, Icarus, 203, 460, "Long term impact risk for (101955) 1999 RQ." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009Icar..203..460M>;
-    D.S. Lauretta, M.J. Drake, R.P. Binzel, et al., 2010, in: 73rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 26-30 July 2010, New York (NY, USA), Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, id.5153, "Asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36: optimum target for an asteroid sample return mission." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PSA..73.5153L>;
- M. Delbò, P. Michel, 2011, Astrophysical Journal (Letters), 728, L42, "Temperature history and dynamical evolution of (101955) 1999 RQ36: a potential target for sample return from a primitive asteroid." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011ApJ...728L..42D>.
- B.E. Clark, R.P. Binzel, E.S. Howell, et al., 2011, Icarus, 216, 462, "Asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36: spectroscopy from 0.4 to 2.4 μm and meteorite analogs." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..216..462C>.
See also: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-205>, <uanews.org/node/29231>, <sci2.esa.int/Conferences/MarcoPolo-ws08/The_OSIRIS_mission_-_Dante_Lauretta.pdf>, <www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/osiris-rex.html>, <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012LPI....43.2219H>, <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012LPI....43.2491L>.

6643 NEAs known, ranging in size up to ~32 km (1036 Ganymed, 1924 TD, H = 9.45 mag, D = 31.7 km), of which 1087 PHAs. See: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/>.

A.W. Harris, 2010, in: A.M. Finkelstein, W.F. Huebner & V.A. Shor (eds.), Proceedings Intern. Conf. Asteroid-Comet Hazard 2009, Protecting the Earth against collisions with asteroids and comet nuclei, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation), 21-25 September 2009 (Saint Petersburg: Nauka), p. 312, "Estimating the NEO population and impact risk: past present and future." See: <ftp://quasar.ipa.nw.ru/pub/ACHBOOK_2009/ach-2009_book.pdf>.

M. Birlan, O. Văduvescu, D.A. Nedelcu, EURONEAR Team, 2010, Romanian Astronomical Journal, 20, Supplement "Recent insights into our Universe", 119, "High-precision astrometry of NEAs via EURONEAR observations." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010RoAJ...20S.119B>.

W.F. Huebner, D.C. Boice. P. Bradley, et al., 2010, in: A.M. Finkelstein, W.F. Huebner & V.A. Shor (eds.), Proceetings Intern. Conf. Asteroid-Comet Hazard 2009, Protecting the Earth against collisions with asteroids and comet nuclei, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation), 21-25 September 2009 (Saint Petersburg: Nauka), p. 337, "The engagement space for countermeasures against Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHOs)." See: <ftp://quasar.ipa.nw.ru/pub/ACHBOOK_2009/ach-2009_book.pdf>.

D.K. Yeomans, S.R. Chesley, P.W. Chodas, 2010, in: A.M. Finkelstein, W.F. Huebner & V.A. Shor (eds.), Proceedings Intern. Conf. Asteroid-Comet Hazard 2009, Protecting the Earth against collisions with asteroids and comet nuclei, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation), 21-25 September 2009 (Saint Petersburg: Nauka), p. 244, "NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office." See: <ftp://quasar.ipa.nw.ru/pub/ACHBOOK_2009/ach-2009_book.pdf>.

T. Kwiatkowski, D.A.H. Buckley, D. O'Donoghue, et al., 2010, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 509, A94, "Photometric survey of the very small near-Earth asteroids with the SALT telescope . I. Lightcurves and periods for 14 objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...509A..94K>.

T. Kwiatkowski, 2010, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 509, A95, "Photometric survey of the very small near-Earth asteroids with the SALT telescope. II. Discussion of YORP." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...509A..95K>.

A. Nathues, H. Boehnhardt, A.W. Harris, et al., 2010, Advances in Space Research, 45, 169, "ASTEX: an in situ exploration mission to two near-Earth asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010AdSpR..45..169N>.

Object P/2010 A2, discovered by LINEAR, is an unusual object that superficially looks like a (Encke-type) comet but lives among the asteroids. HST and Rosetta observations show a bizarre X-pattern of filamentary structures near the point-like nucleus of the object and trailing streamers of dust. This complex structure suggests the object is not a comet but instead the product of a head-on collision between two asteroids.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=P%2F2010+A2&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P/2010_A2>.
Ref:
-  C. Snodgrass, C. Tubania, J.-B. Vincent, et al., 14 October 2010, Nature, 467, 814, "A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris tail of asteroid P/2010 A2." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Natur.467..814S>;
- D. Jewitt, H. Weaver, J. Agarwal, et al., 14 October 2010, Nature, 467, 817, "A recent disruption of the main-belt asteroid P/2010 A2." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Natur.467..817J>;
- O.R. Hainaut, J. Kleyna, G. Sarid, et al., 2012, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 537, id.A69, "P/2010 A2 LINEAR. I. An impact in the asteroid main belt." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012A%26A...537A..69H>.
- D. Jewitt, J.S. Stuart, J. Li, 2011, Astronomical Journal, 142, Issue 1, article id. 28, "Pre-discovery observations of disrupting asteroid P/2010 A2." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011AJ....142...28J>.
See also: <hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/34>,  <hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/07/full/>, <sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=47830>, <www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1016/>, <hubblesite.org/pubinfo/pdf/2010/34/pdf.pdf>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=comet-may-be-colliding-asteroids-2010-01>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=comet-tail-asteroid>.

NASA's Flexible Path evaluation of  human mission in 2025 to visit an asteroid. See: <www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/01/nasas-flexible-path-2025-human-mission-visit-asteroid/>.

2010, Jan 12

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spotted its first never-before-seen near-Earth asteroid, 2010 AB78 (H = 18.6 mag, D ≈ 0.6 km), at a distance of ~ 160 x 10⁶ km. See: <www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20100122.html>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2460>, <www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/WISE/>.

2010, Jan 13

Asteroid 2010 AL30 (H = 27.2 mag, D ≈ 10-15 m)  passed Earth at  0.336 LD (= 129,020 km = 20.25 R_Earth from the geocenter).
Discovered by the LINEAR survey of MIT's Lincoln Laboratories on 10 January 2010. Radar observations with the Goldstone planetary radar had been planned. One would expect a NEA of this size, one of ~ 2,000,000 such objects in near-Earth space, to pass Earth within 1 LD about once every week on average.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+AL30+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_AL30>.
See also: <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news167.html>, <www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/wednesdays-near-earth-asteroid-caught-on-film/>.

2010, Jan 18-20

Workshop NEO Information, Analysis and Warning, Mexico City (Mexico). Sponsored by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), the Secure World Foundation (SWF), and the Centro Regional de Enseñanza de Ciencia y Tecnología del Espacio para America Latina y el Caribe (CRECTEALC). Summary: Functions and Characteristics of NEO Information, Analysis and Warning Network (IWAN).
See: <www.space-explorers.org/>, <www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/NEO%20IAWN%20Workshop%20Executive%20Summary%202-12-10.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-24.pdf>, <swfound.org/events/2010/neo-information-analysis-and-warning-network-workshop>.

C.R. Chapman, 2010, Nature (News & Views), 463, 305, "Asteroids: stripped on passing by Earth." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Natur.463..305C>.

2010, Jan 21

R.P. Binzel, A. Morbidelli, S. Merouana, et al., 2010, Nature (Letters), 463, 331, "Earth encounters as the origin of fresh surfaces on near-Earth asteroids".
See also: I. Semeniuk, 2010, Sky & Telescope, 23 January 2010, "Asteroids pale after close encounters." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Natur.463..331B>,  <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=asteroid-quakes>.

2010, Jan 22

US National Research Council Space Studies Board Committee (chair Irwin Shapiro) on Defending Planet Earth: Near Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies. Final Report. The report calls for an international body that would be prepared to take action and defend the planet whenever an asteroid is discovered on a likely collision course. The body would be composed of "representatives of nations concerned with this problem and willing to invest in preparedness for damaging collisions." If a hazardous asteroid were discovered far enough in advance, that body could arrange for a space mission to deflect it. "It's the only natural disaster we know about where we could actually prevent it." US Congress has set a goal of mapping 90% of NEOs with D > 140 m by 2020. The report states that at the current rate of funding the effort will take decades. It also notes that possibly even NEOs as small as 30 – 50 m may pose a serious threat. The most promising search tool being built – the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope – may lose out on funding in current project prioritization. The report gives two options for detection of the D > 140 m NEOs – completion by 2020 would require   space missions, one in Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L1 and one in a Venus-trailing orbit. While use of a large ground based telescope would be cheaper but reach the goal only by 2030.
See: <www.nap.edu/catalog/12842.html>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=183>, <www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=new-report-warns-against-smaller-ne-2010-01-22>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=asteroid-impact-climate-change>, <www.universetoday.com/2010/01/22/asteroid-detection-deflection-needs-more-money-report-says/>, <www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid-hunt-space-telescopes-100204.html>.

R. Arentz, H. Reitsema, J. Van Cleve, R. Linfield, 2010, in: Proc. Space, Propulsion & Enery Sciences International Forum SPESIF-2010, Baltimore, 23-26 February 2010,  AIP Conf. Proc., 1208, 418, "NEO Survey, an efficient search for Near-Earth Objects by an IR observatory in a Venus-like orbit." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010AIPC.1208..418A>.
Submitted to the Primitive Bodies Subcommittee of the Decadal Survey. A 50 cm telescope with a 2 × 5 degree FoV, and a camera working at 40 K in the 6 – 10.5 μm range, capable of detecting 85% of all NEOs with D > 100 m, 70% of those with D > 60 m, and about 50% of those with D > 50 m, in a period of 7.5 years. Also presented at 1^st IAA Planetary Defense Conference, See 27-30 April 2009.
See: <scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=APCPCS001208000001000418000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/decadal/sbag/topical_wp/RobertFArentz.pdf>, <www.space.com/news/nasa-neo-asteroid-spacecraft-101221.html>.

I. Semeniuk, 2010, Sky & Telescope, 23 January 2010, "Asteroids pale after close encounters." See: <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/82499022.html >.

M. Birlan, O. Vaduvescu, A. Tudorica, et al., 2010, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 511, 40, "More than 160 near Earth asteroids observed in the EURONEAR network." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...511A..40B>.

T. Kwiatkowski, M. Polinska, N. Loaring, et al., 2010, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 511, A49, "Photometric survey of the very small near-Earth asteroids with the SALT telescope. III. Lightcurves and periods for 12 objects and negative detections." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...511A..49K>.

C.A. Thomas, R.P. Binzel, 2010, Icarus, 205, 419, "Identifying meteorite source regions through near-Earth object spectroscopy." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Icar..205..419T>.

ESA Space News, 3 February 2010, ESA Mars Express, "Craters young and old in Sirenum Fossae." See: <www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMJLFSJR4G_index_0.html>.

2010, Feb 9

Final Report of the Research Project Legal Aspects of NEO Threat Response and Related Institutional Issues, undertaken by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Programme on Space and Telecommunications Law, sponsored by the Secure World Foundation and with the support of an International Advisory Board of eminent international space law experts from various states around the world, members of the International institute of Space Law (IISL) and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). Rapporteur: Frans G. von der Dunk. See: <spaceandtelecomlaw.unl.edu/home/neoresearchproject>.

2010, Feb 15-16

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) Action Team 14 on NEOs, chaired by Sergio Camacho (Mexico), meets in Vienna (Austria). See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_L300E.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-24.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-25.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-35.pdf>,  <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-36.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-39.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-41.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-43.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-44.pdf>,  <www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-45.pdf>, <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_NEO_2010_L01E.pdf>, <www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_958E.pdf>.

Draft report of the UN-COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee Working Group on Near-Earth Objects. See: <www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_NEO_2010_L01E.pdf>.

2010, Feb 17

Asteroid 2010 CK19 (H = 27.9 mag, D ≈ 9 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+CK19+&orb=1>.

2010, Feb 21

Asteroid 2010 DJ1 (H = 26.9 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 1.0 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+DJ1+&orb=1>.

C.A. Maddock, 2010, On the dynamics, navigation and control of a spacecraft formation of solar concentrators in the proximity of an asteroid, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow (UK). See: <theses.gla.ac.uk/1572/01/2010maddockphd.pdf>, <planetarydefense.blogspot.com/2010/03/dr-christie-maddocks-thesis-now.html>.

P.R. Renne, H.P. Schwarcz, M.R. Kleindienst, et al., 2010, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 291, 201, "Age of the Dakhleh impact event and implications for Middle Stone Age archeology in the western desert of Egypt." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010E%26PSL.291..201R>.

2010, Mar 11-12

Second Asian Asteroid Observation Network Workshop, Lijiang (Yunnan, China). See: <www.ynao.ac.cn/announcement/announcement/2009/091228.pdf>.

C.R. Chapman, D. Morrison, 2010, in: Proceedings Astrobiology Science Conference 2010, Evolution and Life: Surviving Catastrophes and Extremes on Earth and Beyond, 26-30 April, 2010,  League City (TX, USA), LPI Contribution No. 1538, p. 5164, "Planetary defense and near-Earth objects." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010LPICo1538.5164C>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/abscicon2010/pdf/5164.pdf>.

J. de Léon, H. Campis, K. Tsiganis, et al., 2010, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 513, id.A26, "Origin of the near-Earth asteroid Phaethon and the Geminids meteor shower." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...513A..26D>.

G.R. Osinski, C.S. Cockell, P. Lindgren, J. Parnell, 2010, in: Proceedings Astrobiology Science Conference 2010, Evolution and Life: Surviving Catastrophes and Extremes on Earth and Beyond, 26-30 April, 2010,  League City (TX, USA), LPI Contribution No. 1538, p. 5252, "The effect of meteorite impacts on the elements essential for life." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010LPICo1538.5252O>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/abscicon2010/pdf/5252.pdf>.

E. Asphaug, 2010, Chemie der Erde - Geochemistry, 70, 199, "Similar-sized collisions and the diversity of planets." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ChEG...70..199A>.

Asteroid 2010 GA6 (H = 26.0 mag, D ≈ 22 m)  passed Earth at 1.1 LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+GA6&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_GA6>.
See also: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2549>, <www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=newfound-asteroid-will-pass-by-eart-2010-04-08>.

Wisconsin Fireball, seen in at least six US states. The parent body was ~1 m in diameter and while desintregrating released energy equivalent to the detonation of ~20 tons of TNT. See: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2565>.

US President Barack Obama on Space Exploration in the 21st Century, speaking at John F. Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island (FL, USA): "… And by 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the Moon into deep space. So we’ll start – we’ll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history. By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it … ." This follows  recommendations of the Augustine Review of 22 Oct 2009.
See: <www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-space-exploration-21st-century>, <www.nasa.gov/about/obamaspeechfeature.html>, <www.nasa.gov/news/media/trans/obama_ksc_trans.html>, <www.nasa.gov./pdf/396093main_HSF_Cmte_FinalReport.pdf>>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=184>. This is formalized in the document National Space Policy of the United States of America of 28 June 2010.
See also: <www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/national_space_policy_6-28-10.pdf>, <www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/science/space/16nasa.html>.

Establishment of the NASA Advisory Council Ad Hoc Task Force on Planetary Defense. See: <www.nasa.gov/pdf/490945main_10-10_TFPD.pdf>, <www.nasa.gov/exploration/about/planetarydefense_taskforce_prt.htm>, <www.planetary.org/programs/projects/space_information/20101027.html>.

Asteroid 2010 HP20 (H = 27.6 mag, D ≈ 10 m) passed Earth at 0.6  LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+HP20+&orb=1>.

H. Campins, K. Hargrove, N. Pinilla-Alonso, et al., 2010, Nature, 464, 1320, "Water ice and organics on the surface of the asteroid 24 Themis." Main-belt asteroid. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Natur.464.1320C>, <news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100428-asteroid-water-first-ice-frost-themis/>.

Address by Lori B. Garver, NASA Deputy Administrator, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC (USA). Comments on President Obama's speech of 15 April 2010 at the JFK Space Center, Florida (USA), referring to NEAs as the next target for US human spaceflight. One potential target could be asteroid 1999 AO10 (H = 23.9 mag, D ≈ 60 m), which will pass Earth at 10.4 LD on 12 February 2026. It could be reached with a launch in 2025 on a 150 day round trip mission, spending ~2 weeks at the asteroid.
See: <www.nasa.gov/pdf/448579main_CSIS_Garver_20100426a.pdf>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=184>, <www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/01/nasas-flexible-path-2025-human-mission-visit-asteroid/>, <www.spacegeneration.org/index.php/eventstopics/news/227-sgac-announces-the-winner-of-the-2010-move-an-asteroid-competition>, <www.spacegeneration.org/images/stories/Projects/NEO/Corbin_Asteroid_Paper.pdf>.

A. Glikson, 2010, Icarus, 207, 39, "Archaean asteroid impacts, banded iron formations and MIF-S anomalies: a discussion." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Icar..207...39G>.

A.W. Harris, 2010, Bull. American Astron. Soc., 41, 930, "Cosmic disasters, real and imagined." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010DDA....41.0601H>, <nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/AlanHarris.ppt>.

Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS, Maui, HI, USA). The 1.8 m telescope PS1 on Haleakala goes operational and begins its science mission. The 1.4 giga-pixel digital camera will take over 500 exposures each night and send about 4 terabytes of data to the Maui High Performance Computing Center for analysis. In the next three years, PS1 is expected to discover ~100,000 asteroids. PS1 is the experimental proptotype for the larger PS4 telescope, which will have four times the power of PS1 and is planned for Mauna Kea. See item 6 December 2008, <pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/public/>, <www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/PS1/>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pan-starrs-neo>, <www.spacedaily.com/reports/PS1_Telescope_Establishes_Near_Earth_Asteroid_Discovery_Record_999.html>.

Asteroid 2010 JL88 (H = 26.8 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 1.0  LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+JL88+&orb=1>.

Scientists from the Australian National University have identified a dome at least 50 km in diameter, buried under the Timor Sea, that was created by a giant asteroid that collided with Earth ~35 million yr ago – a period of heavy extraterrestrial bombardment.
Ref:
-  A.Y. Glikson, D. Jablonski, S. Westlake, 2010, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 57, 411, "Origin of the Mt Ashmore structural done, west Bonaparte Basin, Timor Sea."
See also: <news.anu.edu.au/?p=2159>.

Object 2010 KQ (H = 29.0 mag, D ≈ 6 m) passed Earth at 0.9 LD.
Its orbit around the Sun is so  similar to the Earth's orbit, that it is suspected to be a rocket stage which escaped  years ago from the Earth-Moon system. See: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-183>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news168.html>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_KQ>.

2010, May 21-23

Meeting on Asteroids and Comets in Europe, Višnjan/Tićan (Croatia). See: <www.minorplanets.org/MACE2010/>.

Asteroid 2010 KO10 (H = 27.1 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at 0.5  LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+KO10+&orb=1>.

2010, May 24-28

Meteoroids 2010.  International Conference on Minor Bodies in the Solar System, Breckenridge (CO, USA). See: <www.cora.nwra.com/Meteoroids2010/ >, <www.space.com/8517-asteroid-probe-return-earth-scientists-edge.html>, <www.space.com/8604-nasa-prepares-potentially-damaging-2011-meteor-shower.html>, <www.space.com/8986-asteroid-threat-early-warning-system-proposed.html>.

Asteroid 2010 KV39 (H = 26.8 mag, D ≈ 17 m) passed Earth at 0.7  LD.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+KV39&orb=1>.

D. Morrison, 2010, Skeptical Inquirer, 34.3, "Did a cosmic impact kill the mammoths?" See: <www.csicop.org/si/show/did_a_cosmic_impact_kill_the_mammoths/>.

M. Ćuk, B.J. Gladman, S.T. Stewart, 2010, Icarus, 207, 590, "Constraints on the source of lunar cataclysm impactors." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Icar..207..590C>.
Read also:
- R. Malhotra, R.G. Strom, 2011, Icarus, 216, 359, "Comment on "Constraints on the source of lunar cataclysm impactors" (Ćuk et al., 2010, Icarus, 207, 590-594)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..216..359M>;
-  M. Ćuk, B.J. Gladman, S.T. Stewart, 2011, Icarus, 216, 363, "Rebuttal to the comment by Malhotra and Strom on "Constraints on the source of lunar cataclysm impactors"." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..216..363C>.

G. de Villiers, D.T. King, L.J. Marzen, 2010, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 45, 947, "A study of candidate marine target impact craters in Arabia Terra, Mars." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PS...45..947D>.

J. Hopkins, A. Dissel, M. Jones, et al., Lockheed Martin, 2010, "Plymouth Rock. An early human mission to Near Earth Asteroids using Orion spacecraft". Version 2.0. See: <www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/Toolkit/OrionAsteroidMissionWhitePaperAug2010.pdf>.

R. Lloyd, 2010, Scientific American, 302, 25, "Asteroid collision. An extinction-level event is unlikely, but 'airbursts' could flatten a city." See: <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=interactive-12-events>.

M. Vasile, C.A. Maddock, 2010, Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 107, 265, "On the deflection of asteroids with mirrors." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010CeMDA.107..265V>.
See also: <planetarydefense.blogspot.com/2010/11/paper-on-deflection-of-asteroids-with.html>, <www.planetary.org/programs/projects/mirrorbees/>.

Fireball lights up Jupiter. Impacting asteroid or comet with D ≈ 8-13 m.
Ref:
-  R. Hueso, A. Wesley, C. Go, et al., 2010, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 721, L129, "First Earth-based detection of a superbolide on Jupiter." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...721L.129H>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-293&cid=release_2010-293&msource=2010293B&tr=y&auid=6964089>.

Intern. Conf. Gaia: at the frontiers of astrometry, 7-11 June 2010, Sèvre (France). Proc: C. Turon, F. Meynadier & F. Arenou (eds.), 2011, Gaia: at the frontiers of astrometry, ESA Publication Series, 45.
See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011EAS....45D...3T>, <sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=45565>, <wwwhip.obspm.fr/gaia2010/IMG/pdf/Abstract_booklet.pdf>.

UN - Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS, 53^rd session) and Action Team 14 on NEOs, chaired by Sergio Camacho (Mexico), meets in Vienna (Austria). See: <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/gadocs/A_65_20E.pdf>.

K. Rowan, 2010, Space.com, "5 reasons to care about asteroids". See: <www.space.com/8590-5-reasons-care-asteroids.html>.

Return of JAXA Hayabusa spacecraft, landing in Woomera (Australia),  after a seven-year journey to bring a sample of asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36, H = 19.2 mag, D = 0.535 × 0.29 × 0.209 km, M = 3.6 × 10¹⁰ kg, PHA)  back to Earth. See also items: 19 November 2005 and 17 November 2010.
See: <hayabusa.jaxa.jp/e/index.html>,  <www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/topics/2010/0705.shtml>, <www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/enterp/missions/hayabusa/index.shtml>, <impact.arc.nasa.gov/news_detail.cfm?ID=185>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-194&cid=release_2010-194&msource=2010194&tr=y&auid=6468044>, <airborne.seti.org/hayabusa/>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa>, <blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2010/06/japan_celebrates_asteroid_roun.html>, <www.nature.com/news/2010/290610/full/466016a.html>, <www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_Hayabusa_Adventure_999.html>, <news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100614-science-space-asteroids-hayabusa-return-fiery/>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljd989jfuis&feature=player_embedded>,  <www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbI78CZWP7g>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyQDwAUfRQ&NR=1>, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtwTD8cBhKc&NR=1>, <www.space.com/news/japan-hayabusa-asteroid-graphic-100611.html>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/jan2011/presentations/day3/d3_1330_Zolensky_Hayabusa.pdf>, <www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/reports/ac105/C1/AC105_C1_100E.pdf>, <www.space.com/14691-asteroid-impacts-hayabusa-meteorite-samples.html>, <www.space.com/14767-lego-asteroid-spacecraft-hayabusa.html>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa>.

Asteroid-aware lawmaker U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R - CA) introduced a bill that would create a special government commission to study the threat of major collisions of asteroids – Near Earth Objects – with the Earth. Rep. Rohrabacher's bill "To establish a United States Commission on Planetary Defense" (H.R. 5587), would create within the legislative branch a United States Commission on Planetary Defense.
See: <thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.5587:>, <usgovinfo.about.com/b/2010/07/26/bill-would-create-asteroid-threat-commission.htm>.

International Workshop Nördlingen 2010: the Ries Crater, the Moon, and the future of human space exploration, Nördlingen (Germany), 25-27 June 2010. See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/nordlingen2010/>.

D. Stöffler, W.U. Reimold, 2010, in: International Workshop Nördlingen 2010: the Ries Crater, the Moon, and the future of human space exploration, Nördlingen (Germany), 25-27 June 2010, LPI Contribution No. 1559, p.37, "The impact of Ries Crater research on the recognition and classification of impact-metamorphosed planetary rocks." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010LPICo1559...37S>.

M. Brozovic, L.A.M. Benner, C. Magri, S.J. Ostro, et al., Icarus, 208, 207, "Radar observations and a physical model of contact binary asteroid 4486 Mithra." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Icar..208..207B>. 
NEA, 1987 SB, H = 27.2 mag, D ≈ 2 km, PHA.

J. de León, J. Licandro, M. Serra-Ricard, et al., 2010, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 517, 23, "Observations, compositional, and physical characterization of near-Earth and Mars-crosser asteroids from a spectroscopic survey." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...517A..23D>.

B.D. Warner, P. Pravec, A. Harris, et al. 2010, Minor Planet Bulletin, 37, 86, "Analysis of the lightcurve of (217807) 2000 XK44: a tumbling NEA." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010MPBu...37...86W>.

A. Steele, F.M. McCubbin, M. Fries, et al., 2010, Science, 329, 51, "Graphite in an  Apollo 17 impact melt breccia." See: <www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5987/51.short>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-220&cid=release_2010-220&msource=m20100701&tr=y&auid=6573935>.

2^nd International Symposium Space & Global Security of Humanity, Riga (Latvia), 5-9 July 2010. See: <www.tsi.lv/?id=5108&lang=en&top=336&top=136>, <www.tsi.lv/Research/Conference/SGS-2010/SGS_2010_abstracts.pdf>.

V.V. Adushkin, A.V. Vityazev, D.V. Gorobets, et al., 2010, presented at the 2nd International Symposium Space & Global Security of Humanity, Riga (Latvia), 5-9 July 2010, "Conceptual, technological and legal bases of creation of the International Planetary Defense System (PDS 'Citadel')." See: <www.tsi.lv/space/SGS1020_221%20-%2005.07.10/Adushkin/IAA-RACT%20C2%20S3-03.pdf>.

NASA Advisory Council's ad-hoc Task Force on Planetary Defense, co-chaired by former astronauts Russell Schweickart and Tom Jones, meeting in Boulder (CO, USA), asked for a Planetary Defense Coordination Office. See: <www.space.com/news/nasa-asteroid-impact-near-earth-objects-planetary-defense-100726.html>.

2010, Jul 10

ESA spacecraft Rosetta fly-by of main-belt asteroid 21 Lutetia (H = 7.35 mag, D  = 132 × 101 × 76 km), at a distance of 3162 km.
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=21+Lutetia+&orb=1>.
Ref:
-   S.A. Stern, J.Wm. Parker, P.D. Feldman, et al., 2011, Astronomical Journal, 141(6), article id. 199, "Ultraviolet discoveries at asteroid (21) Lutetia by the Rosetta Alice Ultraviolet Spectrograph." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011AJ....141..199S>;
- H. Sierks, P. Lamy, C. Barbieri, et al., 2011, Science, 334, 487, "Images of asteroid 21 Lutetia: a remnant planetesimal from the early Solar System." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Sci...334..487S>;
- P. Vemazza, P. Lamy, O. Groussin, et al., 2011, Icarus, 216, 650, "Asteroid (21) Lutetia as a remnant of Earth's precursor planetesimals." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Icar..216..650V>.
See also: <www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/index.html>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2666>, <esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/rosetta/Rosetta_fact_sheetv3.pdf>, <www.nasa.gov/pdf/474203main_Coradini_ExploreNOW.pdf>, <www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMSTK58BOG_index_0.html>, <www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMUAYJ4LOG_index_0.html>, <www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMG93HURTG_index_0.html>, <www.space.com/13594-earth-ancestor-banished-asteroid-belt.html>, <www.eso.org/public/news/eso1144/>, <www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1144a/>, <www.eso.org/public/images/eso1144b/>.

NASA spacecraft WISE completed its first half-year of observations, its program NEO-WISE detecting at infrared wavelengths 97 new near-Earth asteroids, including 14 PHAs. A 10 August report said that the spacecraft is running out of the frozen coolant needed to keep its heat-sensitive instrument chilled. See: <wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/wise/>, <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-238>.

38^th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Bremen (Germany), session B04, Small body exploration: past, present and future space missions. See: <www.cospar-assembly.org/>.

EU Call for Proposals Work Programme 2011, Cooperation Theme 9 Space (European Commission C(2010)4900 of 19 July 2010), Activity 9.2: Strengthening the foundations of space science and technology, Area 9.2.3: Research into reducing the vulnerability of space assets, SPA.2011.2.3-01: Prevention of impacts from Near Earth Objects (NEOs) on our Planet. Deadline: 25 November 2010.
See: <ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/wp/cooperation/space/j-wp-201101_en.pdf>, <www.eurosfaire.prd.fr/7pc/documents/1279796061_paris__infoday30june10_ce.ppt#258,1,Slide 1>, <www.euresearch.ch/fileadmin/documents/events2010/2010_InfoDay-Space_MaT.pdf>.

73^rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, New York (NY, USA) 26-30 July 2011. See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2010/>.

N. Kaiser, W. Burgett, K.C. Chambers, et al., 2010, in: L.M. Stepp, R. Gilmozzi & H.J. Hall (eds.), Ground-based and airborne telescopes. III, Proceedings of the SPIE, 7733, 77330E, "The Pan-STARRS wide-field optical/NIR imaging survey." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010SPIE.7733E..12K>, <www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pan-starrs-neo>.

Third NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group Meeting, Pasadena (CA, USA). See: <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/aug2010/agenda.shtml>, <www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/aug2010/findings.shtml>.

NASA Interactive Workshop Exploration of Near Earth Object objectives, to identify objectives for exploration missions to near- Earth objects.  Washington DC (USA). See: <www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/aug/HQ_M10-105_NEO_Workshop.html>, <www.nasa.gov/exploration/new_space_enterprise/home/neoworkshop.html>.

L. Folco, M. di Martino, A. El Barkooky, 2010, Science, 329, 804, "The Kamil Crater in Egypt." A newly discovered impact crater .See: <www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5993/804.abstract>.

Fireball lights up Jupiter. Impacting asteroid or comet. See: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-293&cid=release_2010-293&msource=2010293B&tr=y&auid=6964089>.

Announcement of the winner of the Space Generation Advisory Council International Student and Young Professional Technical Paper Competition Asteroid Warning System 2010: Ben Corbin (MIT, USA), 2010, presented at the 61^st International Astronautical Congress, Prague (Czech Republic), 27 September - 1 October 2010, "Implementing advanced technologies and models to reduce uncertainty in a global, cost-effective asteroid mitigation system".
See: <spacegeneration.org/index.php/eventstopics/news/169-win-a-trip-to-sgc-and-iac-with-the-2010-move-an-asteroid-competition>, <today.ucf.edu/ucf-alum-writes-asteroid-warning-strategy/>, <www.spacegeneration.org/index.php/eventstopics/news/227-sgac-announces-the-winner-of-the-2010-move-an-asteroid-competition>, <www.spacegeneration.org/images/stories/Projects/NEO/Corbin_Asteroid_Paper.pdf>.

Plymouth Rock deep space asteroid mission presented. See: <www.space.com/news/asteroid-mission-plans-orion-spacecraft-100830.html>.

K. Beatty, Sky & Telescope, 31 August 2010, "The dinosaurs got a warning shot." See: <www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/101880488.html>.

P.A. Bland, P. Spurný, L. Shrbený, et al., 2010, 73rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, New York (NY, USA), 26-30 July 2010, Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, id. id.5209, "Meteorite falls observed by the Desert Fireball Network: an update." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PSA..73.5209B>.

H. Campins, A. Morbidelli, K. Tsiganis, et al., Astrophysical Journal (Letters), 721, L53, "The origin of asteroid 101955 (1999 RQ36)." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...721L..53C>.

T.J. Goldin, C. Koeberl, H.J. Melosh, 2010, 73rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, New York (NY, USA), 26-30 July 2010, Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, id. id.5261, "The fate of ejecta rays in the Earth's atmosphere: from Popigai to Chicxulub." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PSA..73.5261G>.

G.L. Matloff, L. Leng, T. Le, 2010, in: 73rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, New York (NY, USA), July 26-30 2010, Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, id.5004, "Optical transmission of an Allende Meteorite thin section and simulated regolith." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PSA..73.5004M>.
See also: <www.sify.com/news/study-sheds-light-on-asteroid-deflection-strategy-to-avert-collision-news-scitech-lb3u4cgjbej.html>.

E.R.D. Scott, J.I. Goldstein, J. Yang, et al., 2010, in: 73rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, New York (NY, USA), July 26-30 2010, Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, id.5015, "Iron and stony-iron meteorites and the missing mantle meteorites and asteroids." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PSA..73.5015S>.

R.P. Binzel, A. Morbidelli, S. Merouane, et al., 2010, in: 73rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, New York (NY, USA), July 26-30 2010, Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement, id.5263, "Asteroid analogs to ordinary chondrite meteorites: Earth encounters as the key to resolving the paradox." See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010M%26PSA..73.5263B>.

D. Jolley, I. Gilmour, E. Gurov, 2010, Geology, 38, 835, "Two large meteorite impacts at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary." See: <geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/38/9/835>, <www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11112417?print=true>, <www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3306656.html?page=1&c=y>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltysh_crater>.

D.E. Trilling, M. Mueller, J.L. Hora, et al., 2010, Astronomical Journal, 140, 770, "ExploreNEOs. I. Description and first results from the Warm Spitzer Near-Earth Object Survey." The Warm Spitzer NEO Survey, exploring the history of the inner Solar System and near Earth space in the two warm Spitzer wavelength channels at 3.5 μm and 4.5 μm. See: <adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010AJ....140..770T>.
See also: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-283>, <www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=nearby-asteroids-are-a-diverse-bunc-2010-09-03>.

As a sequel of NEAR, a joint mission study by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA's Goddard and Johnson Space Flight Centers focuses on Next Gen NEAR, a concept of a robotic precursor for a human visit to a near-Earth asteroid. The mission could launch as soon as 2014 and begin to return data from a target asteroid the following year. See: <www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2010/100903.asp>.

Asteroid 2010 RX30 (H = 27.2 mag, D ≈ 15 m) passed Earth at a nominal miss distance of 0.64 LD. 
See: <ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2010+RX30+&orb=1>, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_RX30>.
See also: <www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/newsfeatures.cfm?release=2725>, <neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news169.html>,  <www.astronomynow.com/news/n1009/07asteroids/>, <www.space.com/spacewatch/asteroids-passing-near-earth-telescopes-100908.html>.