The U.S. Response to NEOS: Avoiding a Black Swan Event

Abstract

Near Earth Objects (NEOs) present one of the greatest threats to Earth, but currently there is no U.S. or international response and mitigation strategy in place for a NEO impact. This thesis examines case studies from two other high impact low probability (HILP) eventsearthquakes and volcanoeswith the intent of applying lessons learned to the formulation of a NEO mitigation strategy. The case studies include domestic and international examples, offering insights into the critical areas of education and training, infrastructure, and communications. Considering the destructiveness of the threat, it would be in the best interests of global leaders to develop a NEO strategy that uses best response practices from these other events. This thesis recommends the use of an early warning system, greater involvement of leadership, and crowdsourcing ideas beyond the public sector.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1029734

Entities

People

  • Candice K. Dixon

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Case Studies
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Department Of State
  • Disaster Management
  • Early Warning Systems
  • Emergency Response
  • First Responders
  • Health Services
  • International Relations
  • Lessons Learned
  • Medical Personnel
  • Social Media
  • Space Situational Awareness
  • Training
  • United States
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design