Planetary Defense

Abstract

Planetary defense against asteroids should be a major concern for every government in the world. Millions of asteroids and comets cross our solar system, many of them coming dangerously close of Earth. The ones that approach Earth orbit are called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), and come in various size and shape, from small ones that burn up completely when they enter Earths atmosphere, to large ones that can do a great deal of damage and even threaten human race with extinction. Although extinction level impacts are extremely rare, statistically the chance still exists. While extinction is a concern, we should not disregard the smaller size asteroids because these can do extensive damage and wipe out entire regions on Earth. This article intends to provide a brief description of the current situation regarding Planetary Defense.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1031581

Entities

People

  • Emil M Cristea

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Cameras
  • Defense Systems
  • Governments
  • Ground Based
  • Orbits
  • Solar Energy
  • Solar Power Satellites
  • Space Missions
  • Space Objects
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Orbits
  • United Nations
  • United States

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Solar Physics
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris