Tom Gavin
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The B612 Foundation is a private
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
foundation headquartered in
Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...
, United States, dedicated to planetary science and planetary defense against
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
s and other near-Earth object (NEO) impacts. It is led mainly by scientists, former astronauts and engineers from the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
,
Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develop ...
,
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
and the space industry. As a
non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
it has conducted two lines of related research to help detect NEOs that could one day strike the
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
, and find the technological means to divert their path to avoid such collisions. It also assisted the Association of Space Explorers in helping the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
establish the International Asteroid Warning Network, as well as a Space Missions Planning Advisory Group to provide oversight on proposed
asteroid deflection Asteroid impact avoidance comprises the methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) on a potential collision course with Earth could be diverted away, preventing destructive impact events. An impact by a sufficiently large asteroid or other NEO ...
missions. In 2012, the foundation announced it would design and build a privately financed asteroid-finding
space observatory A space telescope or space observatory is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched ...
, the
Sentinel Space Telescope The Sentinel Space Telescope was a space observatory to be developed by Ball Aerospace & Technologies for the B612 Foundation. The B612 Foundation is dedicated to protecting the Earth from dangerous asteroid strikes and Sentinel was to be the F ...
, to be launched in 2017–2018. Once stationed in a
heliocentric orbit A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun i ...
around the Sun similar to that of
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
, Sentinel's supercooled infrared detector would have helped identify dangerous asteroids and other NEOs that pose a risk of collision with Earth. In the absence of substantive planetary defense provided by governments worldwide, B612 attempted a fundraising campaign to cover the Sentinel Mission, estimated at $450 million for 10 years of operation. Fundraising was unsuccessful, and the program was cancelled in 2017, with the Foundation pursuing a constellation of smaller satellites instead. The B612 Foundation is named for the asteroid home of the
eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...
ous hero of
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of s ...
's 1943 book ''
The Little Prince ''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 an ...
''.


Background

When an
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
enters the planet's atmosphere it becomes known as a '
meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...
'; those that survive and fall to the Earth's surface are then called '
meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...
s'. While basketball-sized meteors occur almost daily, and compact car-sized ones about yearly, they usually burn up or explode high above the Earth as bolides, (fireballs), often with little notice. During an average 24-hour period, the Earth sweeps through some 100 million particles of interplanetary dust and pieces of cosmic debris, only a very minor amount of which arrives on the ground as meteorites. The larger in size asteroids or other
near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
s (NEOs) are, the less frequently they impact the planet's atmosphere—large meteors seen in the skies are extremely rare, while medium-sized ones are less so, and much smaller ones are more commonplace. Although stony asteroids often explode high in the atmosphere, some objects, especially iron-nickel meteors and other types descending at a steep angle, can explode close to ground level or even directly impact onto land or sea. In the U.S.
State of Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four ...
, the
Meteor Crater Meteor Crater, or Barringer Crater, is a meteorite impact crater about east of Flagstaff and west of Winslow in the desert of northern Arizona, United States. The site had several earlier names, and fragments of the meteorite are official ...
(officially named Barringer Crater) formed in a fraction of a second as nearly 160 million tonnes of limestone and bedrock were uplifted, creating its crater rim on formerly flat terrain. The asteroid that produced the Barringer Crater was only about in size; however it impacted the ground at a velocity of and struck with an impact energy of —about 625 times greater than the bomb that destroyed the city of Hiroshima during World War II.
Tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
s can also occur after a medium-sized or larger asteroid impacts an ocean surface or other large body of water. The probability of a mid-sized asteroid (similar to the one that destroyed the Tunguska River area of Russia in 1908) hitting Earth during the 21st century has been estimated at 30%.Hernandez, Vittorio
Former NASA Astronaut Predicts 30% Chance of Near-Earth Asteroid Hit Within Century
, ''
International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...
'', March 21, 2013.
Since the Earth is currently more populated than in previous eras, there is a greater risk of large casualties arising from a mid-sized asteroid impact. However, as of the early 2010s, only about a half of one per cent of Tunguska-type NEOs had been located by astronomers using ground-based telescope surveys. The need for an asteroid detection program has been compared to the need for monsoon, typhoon, and hurricane preparedness. As the B612 Foundation and other organizations have publicly noted, of the different types of natural catastrophes that can occur on our planet, asteroid strikes are the only one that the world now has the technical capability to prevent. B612 is one of several organizations to propose detailed dynamic surveys of NEOs and preventative measures such as asteroid deflection. Other groups include Chinese researchers,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
in the United States,
NEOShield Asteroid impact avoidance comprises the methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) on a potential collision course with Earth could be diverted away, preventing destructive impact events. An impact by a sufficiently large asteroid or other NEOs ...
in Europe, as well as the international
Spaceguard Foundation The Spaceguard Foundation (SGF) is a private organization based in Frascati, Italy, whose purpose is to study, discover and observe near-Earth objects (NEO) and protect the Earth from the possible threat of their collision. The foundation is non ...
. In December 2009 Roscosmos Russian Federal Space Agency director
Anatoly Perminov Anatoly Nikolayevich Perminov (russian: Анатолий Николаевич Перминов; born 16 June 1945) is a Russian rocket scientist and a mechanical engineer. He served as the General Director of Russian Federal Space Agency in 2004 ...
proposed a deflection mission to the asteroid 99942 Apophis, which at the time had been thought to pose a risk of collision with Earth.


Asteroid deflection workshop

The Foundation evolved from an informal one-day workshop on
asteroid deflection Asteroid impact avoidance comprises the methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) on a potential collision course with Earth could be diverted away, preventing destructive impact events. An impact by a sufficiently large asteroid or other NEO ...
strategies during October 2001, organized by Dutch astrophysicist Piet Hut along with physicist and then-U.S. astronaut
Ed Lu Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (; born July 1, 1963) is an American physicist and former NASA astronaut. He flew on two Space Shuttle flights, and made an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the pr ...
, presented at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Twenty researchers participated, principally from various NASA facilities plus the non-profit
Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develop ...
, but as well from the University of California, University of Michigan, and the Institute for Independent Study. All were interested in contributing to the proposed creation of an asteroid deflection capability. The seminar participants included Rusty Schweickart, a former Apollo astronaut, and
Clark Chapman Clark R. Chapman is a senior scientist and astronomer at the Southwest Research Institute's Boulder, Colorado, Department of Space Studies His research generally focuses on astronomy including meteorology and comets. He earned an undergraduate ...
, a
planetary scientist Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their ...
. Among the proposed experimental research missions discussed were the alteration of an asteroid's spin rate, as well as changing the orbit of one part of a binary asteroid pair. Following the seminar's round-table discussions the workshop generally agreed that the vehicle of choice (needed to deflect an asteroid) would be powered by a low-thrust ion plasma engine. Landing a nuclear-powered plasma engined pusher vehicle on the asteroid's surface was seen as promising, an early proposal that would later encounter a number of technical obstacles. Nuclear explosives were seen as "too risky and unpredictable" for several reasons, warranting the view that gently altering an asteroid's trajectory was the safest approach—but also a method requiring years of advance warning to successfully accomplish.


B612 Project and Foundation

The October 2001 asteroid deflection workshop participants created the "B612 Project" to further their research. Schweickart, along with Drs. Hut, Lu and Chapman, then formed the B612 Foundation on October 7, 2002, with its first goal being to "significantly alter the orbit of an asteroid in a controlled manner". Schweickart became an early public face of the foundation and served as chairman on its
board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
. In 2010, as part of an ''ad hoc'' task force on planetary defense, he advocated increasing NASA's annual budget by $250M–$300 million over a 10-year period (with an operational maintenance budget of up to $75 million per year after that) in order to more fully catalog the
near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
s (NEOs) that can pose a threat to Earth, and to also fully develop impact avoidance capabilities. That recommended level of budgetary support would permit up to 10–20 years of advance warning in order to create a sufficient window for the required trajectory deflection. Their recommendations were made to a NASA Advisory Council, but were ultimately unsuccessful in obtaining Congressional funding due to NASA, lacking a legislated mandate for planetary protection, not being permitted to request it. Feeling it would be imprudent to continue waiting for substantive government or United Nations action, B612 began a fundraising campaign in 2012 to cover the approximate US$450 million cost for the development, launch and operations of an asteroid-finding space telescope, to be called
Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...
, with a goal of raising $30 to $40 million per year. The
space observatory A space telescope or space observatory is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched ...
's objective would be to accurately survey NEOs from an orbit similar to that Venus, creating a large dynamic catalog of such objects that would help identify dangerous Earth-impactors, deemed a necessary precursor to mounting any asteroid deflection mission. In March and April 2013, several weeks after the
Chelyabinsk meteor The Chelyabinsk meteor was a superbolide that entered Earth's atmosphere over the southern Ural (region), Ural region in Russia on 15 February 2013 at about 09:20 Yekaterinburg Time, YEKT (03:20 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). It was caused ...
explosion injured some 1,500 people, the U.S. Congress held hearings for "...the Risks, Impacts and Solutions for Space Threats". They received testimony from B612 head Ed Lu (see video at right), as well as Dr. Donald K. Yeomans, head of NASA's NEO Program Office, Dr. Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland and co-chair of a 2009 U.S. National Research Council study on asteroid threats, plus others. The difficulty of quickly intercepting an imminent asteroid threat to Earth was made apparent during the testimony: As a result of a set of hearings by the NASA Advisory Committee following the Chelyabinsk explosion in 2013, in conjunction with a White House request to double its budget, NASA's Near Earth Object Program funding was increased to $40.5 M/year in its FY2014 (Fiscal Year 2014) budget. It had previously been increased to $20.5 M/year in FY2012 (about 0.1% of NASA's annual budget at the time), from an average of about $4 M/year between 2002 and 2010.


Asteroid hazard reassessment

On
Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...
, April 22, 2014, the B612 Foundation formally presented a revised assessment on the frequency of "city-killer" type impact events, based on research led by Canadian planetary scientist Peter Brown of the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
's (UWO) Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration. Dr. Brown's analysis, "A 500-Kiloton Airburst Over Chelyabinsk and An Enhanced Hazard from Small Impactors", published in the journals
Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
, was used to produce a short computer-animated video that was presented to the media at the
Seattle Museum of Flight The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in the city of Tukwila, immediately south of Seattle.< ...
. The nearly one and a half minute video displayed a rotating globe with the impact points of about 25 asteroids measuring more than one, and up to 600 kilotons of blast force, that struck the Earth from 2000 to 2013 (for comparison, the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima was equivalent to about 16 kilotons of TNT blast force). Of those impacts between 2000 and 2013, eight of them were as large, or larger, than the Hiroshima bomb. Only one of the asteroids, 2008 TC3, was detected in advance, some 19 hours before exploding in the atmosphere. As was the case with the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, no warnings were issued for any of the other impacts. At the presentation, alongside former NASA astronauts Dr. Tom Jones and
Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...
astronaut Bill Anders, Foundation head
Ed Lu Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (; born July 1, 1963) is an American physicist and former NASA astronaut. He flew on two Space Shuttle flights, and made an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the pr ...
explained that the frequency of dangerous asteroid impacts hitting Earth was from three to ten times greater than previously believed a dozen or so years ago (earlier estimates had pegged the odds as one per 300,000 years). The latest reassessment is based on worldwide infrasound signatures recorded under the auspices of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, which monitors the planet for nuclear explosions. Dr. Brown's UWO study used infrasound signals generated by asteroids that released more than a kiloton of TNT explosive force. The study suggested that "city-killer" type impact events similar to the
Tunguska event The Tunguska event (occasionally also called the Tunguska incident) was an approximately 12-megaton explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of June 30, ...
of 1908 actually occur on average about once a century instead of every thousand years, as was once previously believed. The 1908 event occurred in the remote, sparsely populated Tunguska area of
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, Russia, and is attributed to the likely airburst explosion of an asteroid or comet that destroyed some 80 million trees over 2,150 square kilometres (830 sq mi) of forests. The higher frequency of these types of events is interpreted as meaning that "blind luck" has mainly prevented a catastrophic impact over an inhabited area that could kill millions, a point made near the video's end.


99942 Apophis

During the first decade of the 2000s, there were serious concerns the 325 metres (1,066 ft) wide asteroid 99942 Apophis posed a risk of impacting Earth in 2036. Preliminary, incomplete data by astronomers using ground-based sky surveys resulted in the calculation of a Level 4 risk on the Torino Scale impact hazard chart. In July 2005, B612 formally asked NASA to investigate the possibility that the asteroid's post-2029 orbit could be in orbital resonance with Earth, which would increase the likelihood of a future impact. The Foundation also asked NASA to investigate whether a transponder should be placed on the asteroid to enable more accurate tracking of how its orbit would be changed by the
Yarkovsky effect The Yarkovsky effect is a force acting on a rotating body in space caused by the anisotropic emission of thermal photons, which carry momentum. It is usually considered in relation to meteoroids or small asteroids (about 10 cm to 10 km i ...
. By 2008, B612 had provided estimates on a 30 kilometers-wide corridor, called a "path of risk", that would extend across the Earth's surface if an impact were to occur, as part of its effort to develop viable deflection strategies. The calculated risk-path extended from
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
across southern Russia through Siberia, across the Pacific, then right between
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
and
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, crossing northern
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, and ending in the Atlantic just before reaching Africa. At that time, a computer simulation estimated Apophis's hypothetical impact in countries, such as Colombia and Venezuela, could have resulted in more than 10 million casualties. Alternately, an impact in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans could produce a deadly
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
over 240 metres (about 800 ft) in height, capable of destroying many coastal areas and cities. A series of later, more accurate observations of 99942 Apophis, combined with the recovery of previously unseen data, revised the odds of a collision in 2036 as being virtually nil, and effectively ruled it out.


International involvement

B612 Foundation members assisted the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) in helping obtain United Nations (UN) oversight of NEO tracking and deflection missions through the UN's
Committee On the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) is a United Nations committee whose main task is to review and foster international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, as well as to consider legal issues ar ...
(UN COPUOS) along with COPUOS's Action Team 14 (AT-14) expert group. Several members of B612, also members of the ASE, worked with COPUOS since 2001 to establish international involvement for both impact disaster responses, and on deflection missions to prevent impact events. According to Foundation ''Chair Emeritus'' Rusty Schweickart in 2013, "No government in the world today has explicitly assigned the responsibility for planetary protection to any of its agencies". In October 2013, COPUOS's Scientific and Technical Subcommittee approved several measures, later approved by the UN General Assembly in December, to deal with terrestrial asteroid impacts, including the creation of an International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) plus two advisory groups: the Space Missions Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG), and the Impact Disaster Planning Advisory Group (IDPAG). The IAWN warning network will act as a clearinghouse for shared information on dangerous asteroids and for any future terrestrial impact events that are identified. The Space Missions Planning Advisory Group will coordinate joint studies of the technologies for deflection missions, and as well provide oversight of actual missions. This is due to deflection missions typically involving a progressive movement of an asteroid's predicted impact point across the surface of the Earth (and also across the territories of uninvolved countries) until the NEO is deflected either ahead of, or behind the planet at the point their orbits intersect. An initial framework of international cooperation at the UN is needed, said Schweickart, to guide the policymakers of its member nations on several important NEO-related aspects. However, as asserted by the Foundation, the new UN measures only constitute a starting point. To be effective they will need to be enhanced by further policies and resources implemented at both the national and supernational levels. At the time of the UN's policy adoption in New York City, Schweickart and four other ASE members, including B612 head
Ed Lu Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (; born July 1, 1963) is an American physicist and former NASA astronaut. He flew on two Space Shuttle flights, and made an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the pr ...
and strategic advisers Dumitru Prunariu and Tom Jones participated in a public forum moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson not far from the
United Nations Headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...
. The panel urged the global community to adopt further important steps for planetary defense against NEO impacts. Their recommendations included: * UN delegates briefing their home countries' policymakers on the UN's newest roles; * having each country's government create detailed asteroid disaster response plans, assigning fiscal resources to deal with asteroid impacts, and delegating a lead agency to handle its disaster response in order to create clear lines of communication from the IAWN to the affected countries; * having their governments support the ASE's and B612's efforts to identify the estimated one million "city-killer" NEOs capable of impacting Earth, by deploying a space-based asteroid telescope, and * committing member states to launching an international test deflection mission within 10 years.


Sentinel Mission

The Sentinel Mission program was the cornerstone of the B612 Foundation's earlier efforts, with its
preliminary design Preliminary may refer to: * Preliminary internships * Preliminary English Test * Preliminary finals * Preliminary hearing * Preliminary Notice See also *Preliminary examination (disambiguation) Preliminary examination may refer to: In education ...
and system architecture level reviews planned for 2014, and its critical design review to be conducted in 2015. The
infrared telescope An infrared telescope is a telescope that uses infrared light to detect celestial bodies. Infrared light is one of several types of radiation present in the electromagnetic spectrum. All celestial objects with a temperature above absolute zero ...
would be launched atop a
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Falcon 9 rocket, to be placed into a
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
-trailing
Heliocentric orbit A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun i ...
around the Sun. Orbiting between the Sun and Earth, the Sun's rays would always be behind the telescope's lens and thus never inhibit the
space observatory A space telescope or space observatory is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched ...
's ability to detect asteroids or other
near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
s (NEOs). From the vantage of its inner-solar system orbit around the Sun, Sentinel would be able to "pick up objects that are currently difficult, if not impossible, to see in advance from Earth", such as occurred with the
Chelyabinsk meteor The Chelyabinsk meteor was a superbolide that entered Earth's atmosphere over the southern Ural (region), Ural region in Russia on 15 February 2013 at about 09:20 Yekaterinburg Time, YEKT (03:20 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). It was caused ...
of 2013 that went undetected until its explosion over
Chelyabinsk Oblast Chelyabinsk Oblast (russian: Челя́бинская о́бласть, ''Chelyabinskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the city ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. The Sentinel Mission was planned to provide an accurate dynamic catalog of asteroids and other NEOs made available to scientists worldwide from the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
's
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...
, the data collected would calculate the risk of impact events with our planet, allowing for asteroid deflection by the use of
gravity tractor A gravity tractor is a theoretical spacecraft that would deflect another object in space, typically a potentially hazardous asteroid that might impact Earth, without physically contacting it, using only its gravitational field to transmit the requ ...
s to divert their trajectories away from Earth. In order to communicate with the spacecraft while it is orbiting the Sun (at about the same distance as Venus), which can be at times as far as 270 million kilometres (170 million miles) from Earth, the B612 Foundation entered into a
Space Act Agreement Space Act Agreements (abbreviated SAA) are a type of legal agreement specified in the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (and subsequent congressional authorizations) that uniquely empowers the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...
with NASA for the use of their deep space telecommunication network.


Design and operation

Sentinel was designed to perform continuous observation and analysis during its planned -year operational life, although B612 anticipates it may continue to function for up to 10 years. Using its telescope mirror with sensors built by
Ball Aerospace Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. is an American manufacturer of spacecraft, components and instruments for national defense, civil space and commercial space applications. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ball Corporation (NYSE: BAL ...
(makers of the
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...
's instruments), its mission would be to catalog 90% of asteroids with diameters larger than . There were also plans to catalog smaller Solar System objects as well. The
space observatory A space telescope or space observatory is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched ...
would measure by with a mass of and would orbit the Sun at a distance of approximately the same orbital distance as
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
, employing
infrared astronomy Infrared astronomy is a sub-discipline of astronomy which specializes in the observation and analysis of astronomical objects using infrared (IR) radiation. The wavelength of infrared light ranges from 0.75 to 300 micrometers, and falls in betwee ...
to identify asteroids against the cold of outer space. Sentinel would scan in the 7- to 15-micron
wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...
band across a 5.5 by 2-degree field of view. Its sensor array would consist of 16 detectors with coverage scanning "a 200-degree, full-angle field of regard". B612, working in partnership with Ball Aerospace, was constructing Sentinel's 51 cm aluminum mirror, designed for a large field of view with its infrared sensors cooled to using Ball's two-stage, closed-Stirling-cycle
cryocooler A refrigerator designed to reach cryogenic temperatures (below ) is often called a cryocooler. The term is most often used for smaller systems, typically table-top size, with input powers less than about 20 kW. Some can have input powers as l ...
. B612 aimed to produce its space telescope at a significantly lower cost than traditional space science programs by making use of space hardware systems previously developed for earlier programs, rather than designing a brand new observatory. Schweickart stated that about "80% of what we're dealing with in Sentinel is
Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...
, 15%
Spitzer Spitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andre Spitzer (1945–1972), Israeli fencing coach and victim of the Munich massacre * Bernard Spitzer (1924–2014), American real estate developer and philanthropist, father of Eli ...
, 5% new, higher-performance
infrared sensors Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
", thus concentrating its R&D funds on the critical area of cryogenically-cooled image sensor technology, producing what it terms will be the most sensitive type of asteroid-finding telescope ever built. Data gathered by Sentinel would be provided through existing scientific data-sharing networks that include
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
and academic institutions such as the
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. Given the satellite's telescopic accuracy, Sentinel's data may have proven valuable for other possible future missions, such as asteroid mining.


Mission funding

B612 was attempting to raise approximately $450M to fund the development, launch and operational costs of the telescope, about the cost of a complex
freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
interchange, or approximately $100M less than a single Air Force
Next-Generation Bomber The Next-Generation Bomber (NGB; unofficially called 2018 Bomber) was a program to develop a new medium bomber for the United States Air Force. The NGB was initially projected to enter service around 2018 as a stealthy, subsonic, medium-range, m ...
. The $450 million cost estimate is composed of $250 million to create Sentinel, plus another $200 million for 10 years of operations. In explaining the Foundation's bypassing of possible governmental grants for such a mission, Dr. Lu stated their public fundraising appeal is being driven by " e tragedy of the commons: When it's everybody's problem, it's nobody's problem", referring to a lack of ownership, priority and funding that governments have assigned to asteroid threats, also stating on a different occasion "We're the only ones taking it seriously." According to another B612 board member, Rusty Schweickart, "The good news is, you can prevent it—not just get ready for it! The bad news is, it's hard to get anybody to pay attention to it when there are potholes in the road." After providing earlier Congressional testimony on the issue Schweickart was dismayed to hear from congressional staff members that, while U.S. lawmakers involved in the hearing understood the seriousness of the threat, they would likely not legislate funding for planetary defense as "making the deflection of asteroids a priority might backfire in
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
reelection campaigns". The Foundation intended to launch Sentinel in 2017–2018, with initiation of data transfer for on-
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
processing anticipated no later than 6 months afterwards. In the aftermath of the February 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor explosion—where an approximate asteroid entered the atmosphere undetected at about Mach 60, becoming a brilliant superbolide
meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...
before exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia—the B612 foundation experienced a "surge of interest" in its project to detect asteroids, with a corresponding increase in funding donations. After providing Congressional testimony Dr. Lu noted that the many online videos recorded of the asteroid's explosion over Chelyabinsk made a significant impact on millions of viewers worldwide, saying "There's nothing like a hundred YouTube videos to do that."


Staff


Leadership

In 2014 eight key staff positions were designated, covering the offices of the
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
(CEO),
chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
(COO), Sentinel Program Architecture (SPA), Sentinel Mission Direction (SMD), Sentinel Program Management (SPM), Sentinel Mission Science (SMS) and the Sentinel Standing Review Team (SSRT), plus Public Relations.


Ed Lu, Co-founder, B612 Foundation. Executive Director, Asteroid Institute

Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (; born July 1, 1963) is a co-founder and the chief executive officer of the B612 Foundation, and as well, a U.S.
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
and a former
NASA astronaut The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...
. He is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions and an extended stay aboard the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
which included a six-hour spacewalk outside the station performing construction work. During his three missions he logged a total of 206 days in space. His education includes an electrical engineering degree from
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, and a Ph.D. in applied physics from
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. Lu became a specialist in
solar physics Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It deals with detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics, astrophysics, and compu ...
and
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
as a visiting scientist at the High Altitude Observatory based in Boulder, Colorado, from 1989 until 1992. In his final year, he held a joint appointment with the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
. Lu performed postdoctoral fellow work at the Institute for Astronomy in
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
from 1992 until 1995 before being selected for NASA's Astronaut Corps in 1994. Lu developed a number of new theoretical advances, which have provided for the first time a basic understanding of the underlying physics of solar flares. Besides his work on solar flares he has published journal articles and scientific papers on a wide range of topics including
cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...
, solar oscillations,
statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...
, plasma physics,
near-Earth asteroids A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
, and is also a co-inventor of the
gravitational tractor A gravity tractor is a theoretical spacecraft that would deflect another object in space, typically a potentially hazardous asteroid that might impact Earth, without physically contacting it, using only its gravitational field to transmit the requi ...
concept of
asteroid deflection Asteroid impact avoidance comprises the methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) on a potential collision course with Earth could be diverted away, preventing destructive impact events. An impact by a sufficiently large asteroid or other NEO ...
. In 2007 Lu retired from NASA to become the Program Manager on
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
's Advanced Projects Team, and also worked with
Liquid Robotics Liquid Robotics is an American marine robotics corporation that designs, manufactures and sells the Wave Glider, a wave and solar powered unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The Wave Glider harvests energy from ocean waves for propulsion. With thi ...
as its Chief of Innovative Applications, and at Hover Inc. as its Chief Technology Officer. While still at NASA during 2002 Lu co-founded the B612 Foundation, later serving as its Chair and in 2014 is currently its
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
. Lu holds a
commercial pilot license A commercial pilot licence (CPL) is a type of pilot licence that permits the holder to act as a pilot of an aircraft and be paid for their work. Different licenses are issued for the major aircraft categories: airplanes, airships, balloons, glid ...
with multi-engine instrument ratings, accumulating some 1,500 hours of flight time. Among his honors are NASA's highest awards, its Distinguished Service and Exceptional Service medals, as well as the Russian Gagarin, Komorov and Beregovoy Medals.


Tom Gavin, Chairman, Sentinel Standing Review Team

Thomas R. Gavin is the chairman of the B612 Foundation's Sentinel Standing Review Team (SSRT), and a former executive-level manager at
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
. He served with NASA for 30 years, including his position as Associate Director for Flight Programs and Mission Assurance at their
Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
(JPL) organization, and "has been at the forefront in leading many of the most successful U.S. space missions, including Galileo's mission to Jupiter, Cassini–Huygens mission to Saturn, development of Genesis, Stardust, Mars 2001 Odyssey, Mars Exploration Rovers,
SPITZER Spitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andre Spitzer (1945–1972), Israeli fencing coach and victim of the Munich massacre * Bernard Spitzer (1924–2014), American real estate developer and philanthropist, father of Eli ...
and
Galaxy Evolution Explorer Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX or Explorer 83 or SMEX-7) was a NASA orbiting space telescope designed to observe the universe in ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the history of star formation in the universe. In addition to paving the way ...
programs." In 2001 he was appointed associate director for flight projects and mission success for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in May 2001. This was a new position created to provide the JPL Director's Office with oversight of flight projects. He later served as interim director for Solar System exploration. Previously, he was director of JPL's Space Science Flight Projects Directorate, which oversaw the Genesis, Mars 2001 Odyssey, Mars rovers, Spitzer Space Telescope and GALEX projects. He also served as deputy director of JPL's Space and Earth Science Programs Directorate beginning in December 1997. In June 1990 he was appointed spacecraft system manager for the Cassini–Huygens mission to Saturn, and retained that position until the project's successful launch in 1997. From 1968 to 1990 he was a member of the Galileo and Voyager project offices responsible for mission assurance. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from
Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...
in Pennsylvania in 1961. Gavin has been honored on a number of occasions for exceptional work, receiving NASA's Distinguished and Exceptional Service Medals in 1981 for his work on the Voyager space probes program, NASA's Medal for Outstanding Leadership in 1991 for Galileo, and again in 1999 for the Cassini-Hygens mission. In 1997 ''
Aviation Week and Space Technology ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aerospace, defense and aviati ...
'' presented its Laurels Award to him for outstanding achievement in the field of space. He also earned the
American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...
's 2005 Randolph Lovelace II Award for his management of all
Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
and NASA robotic science spacecraft missions.


Scott Hubbard, Sentinel Program Architect

Dr. G. Scott Hubbard is the B612 Foundation's Sentinel Program Architect, as well as a physicist, academic and a former executive-level manager at
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, the U.S. space agency. He is a professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
and has been engaged in space-related research as well as program, project and executive management for more than 35 years including 20 years with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, culminating his career there as director of NASA's Ames Research Center. At Ames he was responsible for overseeing the work of some 2,600 scientists, engineers and other staff. Currently on the
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Safety Advisory Panel, he previously served as NASA's sole representative on the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation Board, and also as their first
Mars Exploration Program Mars Exploration Program (MEP) is a long-term effort to explore the planet Mars, funded and led by NASA. Formed in 1993, MEP has made use of orbital spacecraft, landers, and Mars rovers to explore the possibilities of life on Mars, as well as ...
director in 2000, successfully restructuring the entire Mars program in the wake of earlier serious mission failures. Hubbard founded NASA's Astrobiology Institute in 1998; conceived the
Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' (''MESUR Pathfinder'') is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight, wheeled robot ...
mission with its airbag landing system and was the manager for their highly successful Lunar Prospector Mission. Prior to joining NASA, Hubbard led a small start-up high technology company in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a staff scientist at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States Department of Energy National Labs, United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, t ...
. Hubbard has received many honors including NASA's highest award, their
Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...
, and the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...
's Von Karman Medal. Hubbard was elected to the
International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm ( Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...
, is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has authored more than 50 scientific papers on research and technology and also holds the Carl Sagan Chair at the SETI Institute. His education includes an undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy at
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
and a graduate degree in solid state and semiconductor physics at the
University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
.


Marc Buie, Sentinel Mission Scientist

Dr. Marc W. Buie (b. 1958) is the foundation's Sentinel Mission Scientist, and as well a U.S.
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
at
Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark ...
in
Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has ...
. Buie received his B.Sc. in physics from
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
in 1980 and earned his Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
in 1984. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Hawaii from 1985 to 1988. From 1988 to 1991, he worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute where he assisted in the planning of the first planetary observations made by the
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...
. Since 1983, Pluto and its moons have been a central theme of the research done by Buie, who has published over 85 scientific papers and journal articles. He is also one of the co-discoverers of Pluto's new moons, Nix (moon), Nix and Hydra (moon), Hydra (Pluto II and Pluto III) discovered in 2005. Buie has worked with the Deep Ecliptic Survey team who have been responsible for the discovery of over a thousand such distant objects. He also studies the Kuiper Belt and transitional objects such as Chiron, 2060 Chiron and 5145 Pholus, as well as the occasional comets as with the recent Deep impact mission that travelled to Comet Tempel 1, and near-Earth asteroids with the occasional use of the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. Buie also assists in the development of advanced astronomical instrumentation. 7553 Buie, Asteroid 7553 Buie is named in honor of the astronomer, who has also been profiled as part of an article on Pluto in ''Air & Space/Smithsonian, Air & Space Smithsonian'' magazine.


Harold Reitsema, Sentinel Mission Director

Dr. Harold James Reitsema (b. January 19, 1948, Kalamazoo, Michigan) is the foundation's Sentinel Mission Director and a U.S.
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
. Reitsema was formerly Director of Science Mission Development at Ball Aerospace & Technologies, the B612 Foundation's prime contractor for designing and building its space telescope, space telescope observatory. In his early career during the 1980s he was part of the teams that discovered new moons orbiting Neptune and Saturn through ground-based telescopic observations. Using a Coronagraph, coronagraphic imaging system with one of the first charge-coupled devices available for astronomical use, they first observed Telesto (moon), Telesto in April 1980, just two months after being one of the first groups to observe Janus (moon), Janus, also a moon of Saturn. Reitsema, as part of a different team of astronomers, observed Larissa (moon), Larissa in May 1981, by watching the occultation of a star by the Neptune system. Reitsema is also responsible for several advances in the use of false-color techniques applied to astronomical images. Reitsema was a member of the Halley Multicolour Camera team on the European Space Agency Giotto mission, Giotto spacecraft that took close-up images of Comet Halley in 1986. He has been involved in many of NASA's space science missions including the Spitzer Space Telescope, Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kepler Space Observatory project searching for Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars similar to the Sun. Reitsema participated in the ground-based observations of Deep Impact (spacecraft), Deep Impact mission in 2005, observing the impact of the spacecraft on the Tempel 1 comet using the telescopes of the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, Sierra de San Pedro Mártir Observatory in Mexico, along with colleagues from the University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland and the Mexican National Astronomical Observatory (Mexico), National Astronomical Observatory. Reitsema retired from Ball Aerospace in 2008 and remains a consultant to NASA and the aerospace industry in mission design and Near-Earth Objects. His education includes his B.A. in physics from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1972 and a Ph.D. in astronomy from New Mexico State University in 1977. Asteroid belt, Main-belt 13327 Reitsema, Asteroid 13327 Reitsema is named after him to honor his achievements.


John Troeltzsch, Sentinel Program Manager

John Troeltzsch is the B612 Foundation's Sentinel Program Manager, a senior U.S. Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer and as well a program manager with Ball Aerospace & Technologies. Ball Aerospace is the Sentinel's prime contractor responsible for its design and integration, to be later launched aboard a
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Falcon 9 rocket into a Venus-trailing
heliocentric orbit A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun i ...
around the Sun. Troeltzsch's responsibilities include overseeing all requirements for the observatory's detailed design and build at Ball. As part of his 31 years of service with them, he helped create three of the
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...
's instruments and also managed the Spitzer Space Telescope program until its launch in 2003. Troeltzsch later became the Kepler (spacecraft), Kepler Mission program manager at Ball in 2007. Troeltzsch's program management abilities include experience with Aerospace engineering, spacecraft systems engineering and System integration, software integration through all phases of space telescope projects, from contract definition through assembly, launch and on-station operational start up. His past project experience includes the Kepler Mission, Hubble's Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) and its Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, COSTAR Space Telescope corrective optics, as well as the cryogenically-cooled instruments on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Troeltzsch was awarded the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal for his commitment to the success of the Kepler mission. His education includes a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, both from the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
in 1983 and 1989 respectively, the latter while employed at Ball Aerospace which hired him immediately after the completion of his undergraduate degree.


David Liddle, Chair, Board of Directors

Dr. David Liddle is the foundation's Board Chair and a former technology industry executive and professor of computer science. He also holds the Chair of many Board of directors, boards of directors, including research institutes, in the United States. Liddle is a partner at the venture capital firm U.S. Venture Partners, and is a co-founder and former CEO of both the Interval Research Corporation and Metaphor Computer Systems, plus a consulting professor of computer science at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, credited with heading development of the Xerox Star computer system. He served as an executive at the Xerox Corporation and IBM and currently serves on the board of directors of Inphi Corporation, the ''The New York Times, New York Times'' and the B612 Foundation. In January 2012, he also joined the board of directors of SRI International. Liddle also held the chair of the board of trustees for the Santa Fe Institute, a nonprofit theoretical research center, from 1994 to 1999, and served on the U.S.'s DARPA Information, Science and Technology Committee. Additionally, he was Chair of the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the United States National Research Council, U.S. National Research Council due to his work on human-computer interface designs. In a field unrelated to the sciences and technology, Liddle is a Fellow, Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art in London, England. His education includes a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Electrical engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Toledo.


Board of directors

As of 2014 the B612 Foundation's board includes Geoffrey Baehr (formerly with Sun Microsystems and U.S. Venture Partners), plus Doctorate, Doctors Chapman, Piet Hut,
Ed Lu Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (; born July 1, 1963) is an American physicist and former NASA astronaut. He flew on two Space Shuttle flights, and made an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the pr ...
(also CEO, see Leadership, above), David Liddle (Chair, see Leadership, above), and Dan Durda, a planetary scientist.


Rusty Schweickart, co-founder and Chair Emeritus

Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart (b. October 25, 1935) is a co-founder of the B612 Foundation and chair emeritus of its board of directors. He is also a former List of Apollo astronauts, U.S. Apollo astronaut, research scientist, Air Force pilot, plus business and government executive. Schweickart, chosen in NASA Astronaut Group 3, NASA's third astronaut group, is best known as the Apollo Lunar Module, lunar module pilot on the Apollo 9 mission, the spacecraft's first manned flight test on which he performed the first in-space test of the portable life support system used by the Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon. Prior to joining NASA, Schweickart was a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Experimental Astronomy Laboratory, where he researched upper atmospheric physics and became an expert in Spacecraft attitude control, star tracking and the stabilization of stellar images, a crucial requirement for space navigation. Schweickart's education includes a B.Sc. in Aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineering and an M.Sc. in Aeronautics–Astronautics, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in 1956 and 1963 respectively. His Master's thesis was on the validation of "theoretical models of stratospheric radiance". After serving as the backup commander of NASA's Skylab 2, first manned Skylab mission (the United States' first space station), he later became Director of User Affairs in their Office of Applications. Schweickart left NASA in 1977 to serve for two years as California governor Jerry Brown's assistant for science and technology, and was then appointed by Brown to California Energy Commission, California's Energy Commission for five and a half years. Schweickart co-founded the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) with other astronauts in 1984–85 and chaired the ASE's NEO Committee, producing a benchmark report, ''Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response'', and submitting it to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS). He then co-chaired, along with astronaut Dr. Tom Jones, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics#NASA Advisory Council, NASA's Advisory Council's Task Force on Planetary Defense. In 2002 he co-founded B612, also serving as its Chair. Schweickart is a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society, the
International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm ( Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...
and the California Academy of Sciences, as well as an Associate Fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...
. Among the honors he's received are the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's De la Vaulx Medal in 1970 for his Apollo 9 flight, both of NASA's Distinguished Service and Exceptional Service medals, and, unusual for an astronaut, an Emmy Award from the U.S. National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for transmitting the first live TV pictures from space.


Clark Chapman, co-founder and board member

Clark Chapman is a B612 Board Member and "a planetary scientist whose research has specialized in studies of asteroids and cratering of planetary surfaces, using telescopes, spacecraft, and computers. He is a past Chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the
American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...
and was the first editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research, ''Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets''. He is a winner of the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science and has worked on the science teams of the MESSENGER, Galileo (spacecraft), Galileo and NEAR Shoemaker, Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous space missions." Chapman has a degree from Harvard University and has earned two degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including his Ph.D., in the fields of astronomy, meteorology and the planetary sciences, and also served at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. He is currently on faculty at the
Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develop ...
of Boulder, Colorado.


Dan Durda, board member

Dr. Daniel David "Dan" Durda (b. October 26, 1965, Detroit, Michigan), is a B612 Board Member and "a principal scientist in the Department of Space Studies of the
Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develop ...
's (SwRI) Boulder Colorado. He has more than 20 years experience researching the collisional and dynamical evolution of main-belt and near-Earth asteroids, Vulcanoids, Kuiper belt comets, and interplanetary dust." He is the author of 68 journal and scientific articles and has presented his reports and findings at 22 professional symposiums. He has also taught as adjunct professor in the Department of Sciences at Front Range Community College. Durda is an active instrument-rated pilot who has flown numerous aircraft, including high performance F/A-18 Hornets and the F-104 Starfighters, and "was a 2004 NASA astronaut selection finalist. Dan is one of three SwRI payload specialists who will fly on multiple suborbital spaceflights on Virgin Galactic's Enterprise and XCOR Aerospace's Lynx." His education includes a B.Sc. in astronomy from The University of Michigan, plus an M.Sc. and a Ph.D., both in astronomy at the University of Florida, in 1987, 1989 and 1993 respectively. Besides winning the University of Florida's Kerrick Prize "for outstanding contributions in astronomy", 6141 Durda, Asteroid 6141 Durda is named in his honour.


Strategic advisers

As of July 2014, the Foundation has taken on over twenty key advisers drawn from the sciences, the space industry and other professional fields. Their goals are to provide both advice and critiques, and assist in several other facets of the Sentinel Mission. Included among them are: Dr. Alexander Galitsky, a former Soviet computer scientist and B612 Founding Circle adviser; British Astronomer Royal, cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, Lord Martin Rees, the Baron Rees of Ludlow; U.S. ''Star Trek'' director Alexander Singer; U.S. science journalist and writer Andrew Chaikin; British astrophysicist and songwriter Dr. Brian May; U.S. astronomer Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Carolyn Shoemaker; U.S. astrophysicist Dr. David Brin; Romanian cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu; U.S. physicist and mathematician Dr. Freeman Dyson; U.S. astrophysicist and former Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics head Dr. Irwin I. Shapiro, Irwin Shapiro; U.S. film director Jerry Zucker (film director), Jerry Zucker; British-U.S. balloonist Julian Nott (balloonist), Julian Nott; Dutch astrophysist and B612 co-founder Dr. Piet Hut; former U.S. Ambassador Philip Lader; British cosmologist and astrophysicist Dr. Roger Blandford; U.S. writer and Whole Earth Catalog founder Stewart Brand; U.S. media head Tim O'Reilly; and former U.S. NASA astronaut Dr. Tom Jones.


Tom Jones, strategic adviser

Dr. Thomas David "Tom" Jones (b. January 22, 1955) is a strategic adviser to B612, member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics#NASA Advisory Council, NASA Advisory Council and a former U.S. astronaut and planetary scientist who has studied asteroids for
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the CIA, and helped develop advanced mission concepts to explore the Solar System. In his 11 years with NASA he flew on four Space Shuttle missions, logging a total of 53 days in space. His flight time included three spacewalks to install the centerpiece science module of the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
(ISS). His publications include ''Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System.'' After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy where he received his B.Sc. in 1977, Jones earned a Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences from the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
in 1988. His research interests included the remote sensing of asteroids, meteorite spectroscopy, and applications of space resources. In 1990 he joined Science Applications International Corporation in Washington, D.C. as a senior scientist. Dr. Jones performed advanced program planning for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's Solar System Exploration Division. His work there included the investigation of future Mars rover, robotic missions to Mars, asteroids, and the outer Solar System. After a year of training following his selection by NASA he became an astronaut in July 1991. In 1994 he flew as mission specialists on successive flights of various Space Shuttles, running science operations on the "night shift" during STS-59, successfully deploying and retrieving two science satellites. While helping set a shuttle mission endurance record of nearly 18 days in orbit, Jones used Columbia's robotic Canadarm to release the Wake Shield Facility, Wake Shield satellite and later grapple it from orbit. His last space flight was in February 2001, helping to deliver the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module to the ISS where he helped install the laboratory module in a series of three space walks lasting over 19 hours. That installation marked the start of onboard scientific research on the ISS. Among his honors are NASA's medals and awards for Space Flight, Exceptional Service and Outstanding Leadership, plus the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's (FAI) Vladimir Komarov#Legacy, Komarov Diploma and a NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship.


Piet Hut, co-founder and strategic adviser

Dr. Piet Hut (b. September 26, 1952, Utrecht, The Netherlands) is a co-founder of the B612 Foundation, one of its strategic advisers, and a Dutch people, Dutch astrophysicist, who divides his time between research in computer simulations of dense stellar systems and broadly interdisciplinary collaborations, ranging from fields in natural science to computer science, cognitive psychology and philosophy. He is currently Program Head in Interdisciplinarity, Interdisciplinary Studies at the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
in Princeton, New Jersey, former home to Albert Einstein. Hut's specialization is in "stellar and planetary dynamics; many of his more than two hundred articles are written in collaboration with colleagues from different fields, ranging from particle physics, geophysics and paleontology to computer science, cognitive psychology and philosophy." Dr. Hut was an early adviser to Lu and served as a founding member of the B612 Foundation's board of directors. Hut has held positions in a number of faculties, including the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University (1977–1978); the Astronomical Institute at the University of Amsterdam (1978–1981); Astronomy Department of the University of California, Berkeley (1984–1985) and in the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, N.J. (1981–present). He has held honors, functions, fellowships and memberships in almost 150 different professional organizations, universities and conferences, and published over 225 papers and articles in scientific journals and symposiums, including his first in 1976 on "The Two-Body problem with a Decreasing Gravitational Constant". In 2014 he became a strategic adviser to the B612 Foundation. His education includes an M.Sc. from the University of Utrecht and a double Ph.D. in particle physics and
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
from the University of Amsterdam in 1977 and 1981 respectively. He is the namesource for 17031 Piethut, Asteroid 17031 Piethut honoring his work in Planetary science, planetary dynamics and for his co-founding of B612.


Dumitru Prunariu, strategic adviser

Dr. Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu (, b. 27 September 1952) is a retired Romanian cosmonaut and a strategic advisor to the B612 Foundation. In 1981 he flew an eight-day mission to the Soviet Salyut 6 space station where he and his crewmates completed experiments in
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
, space radiation, space technology, and space medicine. He received the Hero of the Socialist Republic of Romania, the Hero of the Soviet Union, the "Hermann Oberth Gold Medal", the "Golden Star Medal" and the Order of Lenin. Prunariu is a member of the
International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm ( Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...
, the Romanian National Committee on Space Research, COSPAR Committee, and the Association of Space Explorers (ASE). In 1993, until 2004, he was the permanent representative of the ASE at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) and has represented Romania at COPUOS sessions since 1992. He also became the vice-president of the International Institute for Risk, Security and Communication Management (EURISC), and from 1998 to 2004 the president of the Romanian Space Agency. In 2000 he was appointed Associate Professor on Geopolitics within the Faculty of International Business and Economics, Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and in 2004 he was elected COPUOS's Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee. He was then elected as COPUOS's top level chairman, serving from 2010 to 2012, and also elected as the president of the ASE with a three-year mandate. Prunariu has co-authored several books on space flight and both presented and published numerous scientific papers. His education includes a degree in aerospace engineering in 1976 from the Politehnica University of Bucharest. His Ph.D. thesis led to improvements in the field of Flight dynamics (spacecraft), space flight dynamics.


Deflection methods

A number of methods have been devised to 'deflect' an asteroid or other NEO away from an Earth-impacting trajectory, so that it can entirely avoid entering the Earth's atmosphere. Given sufficient advance lead time, a change to the body's velocity of as little as one centimetre per second will allow it to avoid hitting the Earth. Proposed and experimental deflection methods include Ion Beam Shepherd, ion beam shepherds, focused solar energy and the use of mass drivers or solar sails. Initiating a nuclear explosive device above, on, or slightly beneath, the surface of a threatening NEO is a potential deflection option, with the optimal detonation height dependent upon the NEO's composition and size. In the case of a threatening "rubble pile", the stand off, or detonation height above the surface configuration has been put forth as a means to prevent the potential fracturing of the rubble pile. However, given sufficient advance warning of an asteroid's impact, most scientists avoid endorsing explosive deflection due to the number of potential issues involved. Other methods that can accomplish NEO deflections include:


Gravity tractor

An alternative to an explosive deflection is to move a dangerous asteroid slowly and consistently over time. The effect of a tiny constant thrust can accumulate to deviate an object sufficiently from its predicted course. In 2005 Drs.
Ed Lu Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (; born July 1, 1963) is an American physicist and former NASA astronaut. He flew on two Space Shuttle flights, and made an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the pr ...
and Stanley G. Love proposed using a large, heavy unmanned spacecraft hovering over an asteroid to gravitationally pull the latter into a non-threatening orbit. The method will function due to the spacecraft's and asteroid's mutually Gravitation, gravitational attraction. When the spacecraft counters the gravitational attraction towards the asteroid by the use of, for example, an nuclear electric rocket, ion thruster engine, the net effect is that the asteroid is accelerated, or moved, towards the spacecraft and thus slowly deflected from the orbital path that will lead it to a collision with Earth. While slow, this method has the advantage of working irrespective of an asteroid's composition. It would even be effective on a comet, loose rubble pile, or an object spinning at a high rate. However, a gravity tractor would likely have to spend several years stationed beside and tugging on the body to be effective. The
Sentinel Space Telescope The Sentinel Space Telescope was a space observatory to be developed by Ball Aerospace & Technologies for the B612 Foundation. The B612 Foundation is dedicated to protecting the Earth from dangerous asteroid strikes and Sentinel was to be the F ...
's mission is designed to provide the required advance lead time. According to Rusty Schweickart, the gravitational tractor method also has a controversial aspect because during the process of changing an asteroid's trajectory, the point on Earth where it would most likely hit would slowly be shifted temporarily across the face of the planet. It means the threat for the entire planet might be minimized at a temporary cost of some specific states' security. Schweickart recognizes that choosing the manner and direction the asteroid should be "dragged" may be a difficult international decision, and one that should be made through the United Nations. An early
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
analysis of deflection alternatives in 2007, stated: "'Slow push' mitigation techniques are the most expensive, have the lowest level of technical readiness, and their ability to both travel to and divert a threatening NEO would be limited unless mission durations of many years to decades are possible." But a year later in 2008 the B612 Foundation released a technical evaluation of the gravity tractor concept, produced on contract to NASA. Their report confirmed that a transponder-equipped tractor "with a simple and robust spacecraft design" can provide the needed towing service for a 140-meters-diameter equivalent, Hayabusa-shaped asteroid or other NEO.


Kinetic impact

When the asteroid is still far from Earth, a means of deflecting the asteroid is to directly alter its momentum by colliding a spacecraft with the asteroid. The further away from the Earth, the smaller the required impact force becomes. Conversely, the closer a dangerous near-Earth Object (NEO) is to Earth at the time of its discovery, the greater the force that is required to make it deviate from its collision trajectory with the Earth. Closer to Earth, the impact of a massive spacecraft is a possible solution to a pending NEO impact. In 2005, in the wake of the successful U.S. mission that crashed its Deep Impact (spacecraft), Deep Impact probe into Tempel 1, Comet Tempel 1, China announced its plan for a more advanced version: the landing of a spacecraft probe on a small NEO in order to push it off course. In the 2000s the European Space Agency (ESA) began studying the design of a space mission named Don Quijote (space probe), Don Quijote, which, if flown, would have been the first intentional asteroid deflection mission ever designed. ESA's Advanced Concepts Team also demonstrated theoretically that a deflection of 99942 Apophis could be achieved by sending a spacecraft weighing less than a tonne to impact against the asteroid. ESA had originally identified two NEOs as possible targets for its Quijote mission: and (10302) 1989 ML. Neither asteroid represents a threat to Earth. In a subsequent study, two different possibilities were selected: the Amor asteroid 2003 SM84 and 99942 Apophis; the latter is of particular significance to Earth as it will make a close approach in 2029 and 2036. In 2005, ESA announced at the 44th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference that its mission would be combined into a joint ESA-NASA AIDA (spacecraft), Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission, proposed for 2019–2022. The target selected for AIDA will be a binary asteroid, so that the deflection effect could also be observed from Earth by timing the rotation period of the binary pair. AIDA's new target, a component of binary asteroid 65803 Didymos, will be impacted at a velocity of 22,530 km/h (14,000 mph) A
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
analysis of deflection alternatives, conducted in 2007, stated: "Non-nuclear kinetic impactors are the Deep Impact (spacecraft), most mature approach and could be used in some deflection/mitigation scenarios, especially for NEOs that consist of a single small, solid body."


Funding status

The B612 Foundation is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit, private foundation. Financial contributions to the B612 Foundation are tax-exempt in the United States. Its principal offices are in
Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...
; they were previously located in Tiburon, California. Fund raising has not gone well for B612 as of June 2015. With an overall goal to raise for the project, the foundation raised only approximately in 2012 and in 2013.


Foundation name

The B612 Foundation is named in tribute to the home asteroid of the
eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...
ous hero of
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of s ...
's best-selling philosophical fable of ''Le Petit Prince'' (''
The Little Prince ''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 an ...
''). In aviation's early pioneer years of the 1920s, Saint-Exupéry made an emergency landing on top of an African mesa covered with crushed white limestone seashells. Walking around in the moonlight he kicked a black rock and soon deduced it was a meteorite that had fallen from space. That experience later contributed, in 1943, to his literary creation of Asteroid B-612 in his philosophical fable of a little prince fallen to Earth, with the home Minor planet, planetoid's name having been adapted from one of the mail planes Saint-Exupéry once flew, bearing the registration marking A-612. Also inspired by the story is an asteroid discovered in 1993, though not identified as posing any threat to Earth, named ''46610 Bésixdouze'' (the numerical part of its designation represented in hexadecimal as 'B612', while the textual part is French for "B six twelve"). As well, a small Minor-planet moon, asteroid moon, Petit-Prince (moon), ''Petit-Prince'', discovered in 1998 is named in part after ''The Little Prince''.


See also

* 1490 Ch'ing-yang event * 99942 Apophis * Asteroid impact prediction * Asteroid impact avoidance * Asteroid Day * Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) * Deep Space Industries * Gravity tractor * List of impact craters on Earth * List of meteor air bursts *
NEOShield Asteroid impact avoidance comprises the methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) on a potential collision course with Earth could be diverted away, preventing destructive impact events. An impact by a sufficiently large asteroid or other NEOs ...
* Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOS Sat) * Planetary Resources * Potentially hazardous object * Spaceguard * Spaceguard Foundation *
Tunguska event The Tunguska event (occasionally also called the Tunguska incident) was an approximately 12-megaton explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of June 30, ...
* United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS)


References

Notes Citations


Further reading

* Lewis, John S
''Comet And Asteroid Impact Hazards On A Populated Earth: Computer Modeling, Volume 1''
Academic Press, 2000, , * Powell, Corey S
"How to Deflect a Killer Asteroid: Researchers Come Up With Contingency Plans That Could Help Our Planet Dodge A Cosmic Bullet"
''Discover (magazine), Discover'', September 18, 2013, pp. 58–60 (subscription). * Schweickart, Lu, Hut and Chapman
"The Asteroid Tugboat: To Prevent An Asteroid From Hitting Earth, A Space Tug Equipped With Plasma Engines Could Give It A Push"
October 13, 2003, ''Scientific American'' * Steel, Duncan
''Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets: The Search for the Million Megaton Menace That Threatens Life on Earth''
Wiley & Sons, 1995, [1997], , .


External links

*
B612 Foundation: early website homepage
(archived)
B612 Foundation: Sentinel Mission Factsheet (Feb. 2013, PDF)

Dr. Ed Lu at TEDxMarin: Changing the Course of the Solar System
(video, 14:04)
''NBC Nightly News'': Early-Warning Telescope Could Detect Dangerous Asteroids
broadcast April 22, 2014 (video, 2:27)
Defending Earth from Asteroids with Neil deGrasse Tyson
public presentation and moderated panel discussion with members of the Association of Space Explorers and the B612 Foundation, at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, October 25, 2013 (video, 58:03)
NEO Threat Detection and Warning: Plans for an International Asteroid Warning Network
Presentation to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) by Dr. Timothy Spahr, Director,
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...
, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, February 18, 2013 (PDF)
Dr. Ed Lu Congressional Testimony
Washington, D.C., March 20, 2013, United States House Science Subcommittee on Space, United States Senate Sub-Committee on Science and Space: "Assessing the Risks, Impacts and Solutions for Space Threats" (video, 23:49) * (DVD, video, 53:24). Also viewable (within some countries) as
Rusty's Talk: Dinosaur Syndrome Avoidance Project - How Gozit?
a July 17, 2014 presentation before an audience at NASA's Ames Research Center's Director's Colloquium, addressing the status of the three essential elements to avoiding catastrophic asteroid impacts (video, 55:34) {{Portal bar, Society, Earth sciences, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System Charities based in California Planetary defense organizations Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Non-profit organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area Mountain View, California Mill Valley, California Science and technology in the San Francisco Bay Area Planetary science Organizations established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United States Astronomical surveys Scientific research foundations in the United States Articles containing video clips Space science organizations Rusty Schweickart