|
24 February 2001
In January 2000, following discussions
in Parliament and approaches from members of the
public, the Government announced the setting up
of a Task Force on Potentially Hazardous Near
Earth Objects.
Dr Harry Atkinson, formerly of the
Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC)
and former Chairman of the European Space Agency's
Council, was invited to lead the Task Force. He
was assisted by Sir Crispin Tickell, British diplomat,
and Professor David Williams, former President
of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The Task Force was invited to make
proposals to the Government on how the United
Kingdom should best contribute to international
effort on Near Earth Objects, and to advise the
Government on what further action to take.
After extensive consultation
with interested parties and the scientific community
both nationally and internationally, the Task
Force published its report on 18 September 2000.
The report is available at http://www.nearearthobjects.co.uk.
The Government would like to take
this opportunity to pay tribute to the excellent
work the Task Force has done in getting to grips
with this complex issue. Their well-prepared report
is the first comprehensive review, as far as we
are aware, of this challenging subject. The report
has been well received both in the UK and internationally
and has already played an important role in raising
international awareness of the potential threat.
Having considered the report, the
Government's view is that since the possible dangers
posed by Near Earth Objects are not limited to
any one nation, an international approach to the
problem is essential. Here in the UK we have a
great deal to bring to an international approach
including:
- A strong track record in astronomy
and in sky surveys (e.g. UK Schmidt Survey);
- A wide field survey telescope
in the southern hemisphere (VISTA) and the UK
Infrared Telescope in the northern hemisphere
which is being adapted for survey work;
- Through its facilities in La
Palma and its future membership of the European
Southern Observatory the UK has or will have
access to a number of small and medium sized
telescopes in both hemispheres which could be
used or adapted for survey and follow-up work;
- Particular skills in telescope
design and construction in both academia and
industry;
- UK industry produces what are
currently the state of the art CCD imaging chips
for astronomical use. This is a key technology
for Near Earth Object study;
- Expertise in small satellite
technology.
The Government takes the view that
the first priority for the UK and its international
partners should be to find, track and characterize
Near Earth Objects in order to gain a greater
understanding of the nature of the NEO threat.
The complex and controversial issue of mitigating
their effects can then be addressed.
Many of the report's scientific
recommendations on the need to find, track and
characterize Near Earth Objects (NEOs) are inter-related.
The UK's Particle Physics and Astronomy Research
Council, PPARC, has undertaken to use the expertise
available in its scientific community to produce
costed options analysing the most effective way
of implementing the telescope-based recommendations
as a group (recommendations 1, 2, 4 and 5).
The Government's response to the
individual recommendations of the Task Force's
Report is set out below. This document is also
available through the British National Space Centre
website, http://www.bnsc.gov.uk,
and through the Near Earth Objects website, http://www.nearearthobjects.co.uk.
Negotiations with and between international
institutions, and analysis of complex scientific
proposals, take time. The Government therefore
undertakes to provide a further report later this
year on its progress in implementing the response
set out below.
Recommendation 1
We recommend that the Government should seek partners,
preferably in Europe, to build in the southern
hemisphere an advanced new 3 metre-class survey
telescope for surveying substantially smaller
objects than those now systematically observed
by other telescopes. The telescope should be dedicated
to work on Near Earth Objects and be located on
an appropriate site.
In November 2000 the Secretary of
State for Trade and Industry announced that the
UK intended to join the European Southern Observatory
(ESO) whose telescopes are in the southern hemisphere.
ESO has indicated that it is interested in exploring
with the UK the possibility that a 3 metre-class
telescope could be made available at its observing
sites in Chile. This could take the form of the
new telescope envisaged in the recommendation,
or a modification of one of ESO's existing 2-4
metre telescopes. The latter option would not
necessarily compromise the telescope's efficiency.
PPARC has offered to take the lead
in preparing costed options for how this recommendation
could best be implemented, together with similar
studies of recommendations 2, 4 and 5. Decisions
on which options to take forward will need to
be made against the background of funding priorities.
Recommendation 2
We recommend that arrangements be made for observational
data obtained for other purposes by wide-field
facilities, such as the new British VISTA telescope,
to be searched for Near Earth Objects on a nightly
basis.
PPARC will consider this recommendation
as part of the analysis they will undertake of
telescope facilities related to NEOs. PPARC will
also address how survey data could be made available
to identify or track NEOs through the 'Virtual
Observatory' project. This project, called AstroGrid,
plans to give astronomers remote access through
the Internet to a number of UK and other European
telescopes.
Recommendation 3
We recommend that the Government draw the attention
of the European Space Agency to the particular
role that GAIA, one of its future missions, could
play in surveying the sky for Near Earth Objects.
The potential in GAIA, and in other space missions
such as NASA's SIRTF and the European Space Agency's
BepiColombo, for Near Earth Object research should
be considered as a factor in defining the missions
and in scheduling their completion.
Government officials have already
drawn the European Space Agency's attention to
the role that GAIA and BepiColumbo could play
in NEO survey.
In the case of GAIA, a comprehensive
stellar survey telescope proposed for launch no
later than 2012, it has been established that
additional data analysis capability could be added
into the specification of the mission to search
for moving objects such as asteroids. This mission
is currently in the design stage and it is expected
that this capability will be included in the implementation
of the mission, should it prove feasible. The
specification of the BepiColumbo mission to Mercury
(planned for launch in 2009) has also been altered
to include a dedicated NEO camera. BepiColumbo
should provide unique data on those asteroids
whose orbits are mostly interior to the earth's
orbit round the Sun.
The exact scheduling of these two
missions depends on the decisions taken at the
European Space Agency Ministerial Council meeting
in November 2001.
The UK Government has drawn NASA's
attention to the role its SIRTF mission could
play in NEO research. SIRTF is expected to make
a further contribution to identification and characterization
of NEOs.
Recommendation 4
We recommend that the 1 metre Johannes Kapteyn
Telescope on La Palma, in which the United Kingdom
is a partner, be dedicated to follow-up observations
of Near Earth Objects.
Following the Task Force's Report,
PPARC has already discussed access to the Johannes
Kapteyn Telescope with its international partners
(the use of the JKT is shared in particular with
the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research),
and has received an encouraging response. It has
started to develop a costed analysis with the
Director of the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes,
in the Canary Islands.
The preparation of this analysis
will form part of PPARC's analysis of telescope
facilities related to NEOs.
Recommendation 5
We recommend that negotiations take place with
the partners with whom the United Kingdom shares
suitable telescopes to establish an arrangement
for small amounts of time to be provided under
appropriate financial terms for spectroscopic
follow-up of Near Earth Objects.
PPARC already supports a number
of high scientific priority studies and observations
of NEOs through research grants and telescope
time. This is expected to continue. There may
be opportunities through the recent Spending Review
settlement, in particular through funds directed
to information technology, to increase the efficiency
and effectiveness of these studies.
PPARC will consider this recommendation
as part of its analysis of telescope facilities
related to NEOs.
Recommendation 6
We recommend that the Government explore, with
like-minded countries, the case for mounting a
number of coordinated space rendezvous missions
based on relatively inexpensive microsatellites,
each to visit a different type of Near Earth Object
to establish its detailed characteristics.
The Government recognises the importance
of characterizing NEOs and the value of initiatives
such as NASA's NEAR mission to the asteroid Eros.
The Government will explore through the European
Space Agency the possibility for future microsatellite
rendezvous missions, emphasising the potential
of such missions to achieve both scientific and
technological objectives.
Recommendation 7
We recommend that the Government - together with
other governments, the International Astronomical
Union and other interested parties - seek ways
of putting the governance and funding of the Minor
Planet Center on a robust international footing,
including the Center's links to executive agencies
if a potential threat were found.
The Government welcomes the work
done by the Minor Planet Centre and values its
role in coordinating and archiving data on NEOs.
NASA is currently pursuing a number of options
to provide suitable funding for the Minor Planets
Centre and the Government will work together with
NASA, the International Astronomical Union, the
European Space Agency and other European partners
to identify appropriate support to the international
effort.
In addition, the Government will
explore with ESA whether it has plans for similar
facilities in Europe.
Recommendation 8
We recommend that the Government should help promote
multi-disciplinary studies of the consequences
of impacts from Near Earth Objects on the Earth
in British and European institutions concerned,
including the Research Councils, universities
and the European Science Foundation.
The Government has drawn the attention
of the Research Councils to the Task Force's report
and the importance of multi-disciplinary studies
of this nature. Funding for high quality scientific
proposals of interdisciplinary studies related
to impact consequences is already available through
the Research Councils' peer review process. In
addition, the UK's Natural Environment Research
Council makes a small contribution to the European
Science Foundation's multidisciplinary IMPACT
programme, looking at "the nature of impacts
and their impact on nature".
Recommendation 9
We recommend that the Government, with other governments,
set in hand studies to look into the practical
possibilities of mitigating the results of impact
and deflecting incoming objects.
There is currently a scarcity of
precise knowledge about the exact nature of the
NEO threat. Mitigating any impact by deflection
would appear to be a more attractive option than
break-up, since the latter might well result in
a greater number of smaller NEOs to cope with
world-wide. Discussions of this global problem
with the US Department of Defense, NASA, ESA and
the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
(DERA) have thus far provided no clear position
on what should be done, although it is clear that
the highest priority lies in the provision of
improved observation to provide the maximum possible
warning time. Options for deflecting NEOs range
from the launch of small spacecraft many years
in advance of the predicted impact date to rendezvous
with the NEO to gently "nudge" it away
from its collision course, through to last minute
deflection using high energy explosive devices,
the use of which would need to be very carefully
considered.
In relation to mitigation, the Home
Office has studied the possible consequences of
emergencies of this sort, and contingency arrangements
are already in place. These involve local agencies
(principally the police, fire and ambulance with
local authorities and health providers), who plan,
train and exercise together so that any response
is co-ordinated. An impact in the UK from a NEO
would be dealt with under these arrangements.
If the level of threat were identified
as being significant (in time and magnitude),
specific arrangements would need to be put in
place. These would fall under the aegis of the
Civil Contingencies Committee, a committee of
Ministers and senior officials chaired by the
Home Secretary or senior Home Office official.
Recommendation 10
We recommend that the Government urgently seek
with other governments and international bodies
(in particular the International Astronomical
Union) to establish a forum for open discussion
of the scientific aspects of Near Earth Objects,
and a forum for international action. Preferably
these should be brought together in an international
body. It might have some analogy with the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, thereby covering science,
impacts, and mitigation.
The Government agrees on the need
for an international forum to discuss and co-ordinate
action on the NEO issue. The Government welcomes
an approach already received from the OECD with
an offer to assist in this area. Their approach
is particularly attractive as the OECD has the
reach to pull in the main players in space-related
activity. Discussions of the risk from NEOs might
also contribute to OECD's project on Emerging
Systemic Risks, with which the UK is already associated.
Recommendation 11
We recommend that the Government discuss with
like-minded European governments how Europe could
best contribute to international efforts to cope
with Near Earth Objects, coordinate activities
in Europe, and work towards becoming a partner
with the United States, with complementary roles
in specific areas. We recommend that the European
Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory,
with the European Union and the European Science
Foundation, work out a strategy for this purpose
in time for discussion at the ministerial meeting
of the European Space Agency in 2001.
The Government welcomes this recommendation.
The Science Programme of ESA has undertaken the
task of convening a European forum of "decision
makers" in the course of 2001 to discuss
Europe's role in this area. In parallel, the European
Science Foundation is preparing a report on NEOs.
The European Southern Observatory is also keen
to be involved in these discussions.
Recommendation 12
We recommend that the Government appoint a single
department to take the lead for coordination and
conduct of policy on Near Earth Objects, supported
by the necessary inter-departmental machinery.
The Government accepts this recommendation.
The British National Space Centre will take the
lead in Whitehall on policy in this area. BNSC
is a successful example of joined up Government
which brings together those Government Departments
and Research Councils with an interest in civil
space. It includes the majority of Departments
or Research Councils with an interest in the NEO
issue i.e. the Department of Trade and Industry,
Office of Science and Technology, Ministry of
Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department
of the Environment, Transport and the Regions,
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council,
Natural Environment Research Council, the Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory and DERA.
As the Department within Government
with responsibility for civil emergencies, the
Home Office would take over as Lead Government
Department in the event of civil emergencies arising
from an imminent impact or the aftermath of one.
Consultation between BNSC and the
Home Office will take place through close working
with the Home Office Emergency Planning Division.
In addition coordination meetings will take place
between interested Departments and Research Councils.
Recommendation 13
We recommend that a British Centre for Near Earth
Objects be set up whose mission would be to promote
and coordinate work on the subject in Britain;
to provide an advisory service to the Government,
other relevant authorities, the public and the
media, and to facilitate British involvement in
international activities. In doing so it would
call on the Research Councils involved, in particular
the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
and the Natural Environment Research Council,
and on universities, observatories and other bodies
concerned in Britain.
See the response to recommendation
14 below.
Recommendation 14
We recommend that one of the most important functions
of a British Centre for Near Earth Objects be
to provide a public service which would give balanced
information in clear, direct and comprehensible
language as need might arise. Such a service must
respond to very different audiences: on the one
hand Parliament, the general public and the media;
and on the other the academic, scientific and
environmental communities. In all of this, full
use should be made of the Internet. As a first
step, the Task Force recommends that a feasibility
study be established to determine the functions,
terms of reference and funding for such a Centre.
At this stage, the Government foresees
that a key role for such a facility would be to
act as a showcase for the public on NEO issues,
providing clear and balanced information and hence
assisting in the public understanding of science.
The Government will look into the options available
for developing such a centre.
In addition to the Government's
response to the Task Force's Report, the UK is
taking a leading role in four related developments.
The NEO report and actions arising
from it are to be discussed at the March meeting
of the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee
steering group.
The report is also to be discussed
at the Scientific and Technical subcommittee of
the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space in February. At this meeting a joint symposium
on Space Hazards will be held by the International
Scientific Union Committee on Space Research and
the International Astronautical Federation. NEOs
will be discussed along with other hazards such
as man-made space debris. BNSC will participate
actively in this symposium to promote consideration
of both issues.
BNSC is encouraging ESA to bring
the NEO issue to the agenda of the ESA International
Relations Committee.
BNSC has raised the issue of NEOs
within the European Space Agency's Working Group
for the Space Debris Network of Centres and will
continue to report to that group on progress.
Finally, the Government would once
again like to pay warm tribute to the excellent
work of the Task Force, led by Dr Harry Atkinson,
and to emphasize the importance that it attaches
to carrying this work forward.
" Crown Copyright. http://www.dti.gov.uk/
DTI/Pub /02/01/NP.
|
