Committee on Planetary Defense and Near Earth Objects (NEO)

Committee Members  

Objective/scope of the committee

The NEO TC’s primary objective is to raise awareness among the global space community, in particular the IAC audience, about the ongoing work within the Planetary Defense community (incl. IAWN, SMPAG, UNOOSA) and to get more people, especially students and young professionals interested and attracted to the topic.

It further aims to establish a pool of expertise to act as authority and point of contact in particular for national and international bodies and the media, for authoritative information and advice on NEO related topics.

The TC also addresses other Near Earth Object related topics such as asteroid mining, capacity building for decision makers and communication with the general public to complement the work done in other committees that address a subset of NEO topics, such as the IAF Space Exploration Symposium, the IISL Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, and the IAF Astrodynamics Symposium.

Through electronic media, as well as meetings and workshops on topics of relevance, the committee provides a forum for the exchange, discussion and publication of ideas and results. As appropriate, the committee liaises and coordinates its activities with other relevant IAF Technical and Administrative Committees as well as with the IAA, the IISL and other interested organisations.

Committee rules for membership applications and renewal

The Committee follows the general Terms of References of IAF Committees.

The TC aims to have a balanced membership in terms of the 3G (gender, generation, geographical distribution) and representation of individuals with various backgrounds and specialties from agencies, industry, academy and organisations that can contribute their expertise to the knowledge base of the TC in various NEO related areas. Examples of such areas are discovery, characterization, (deflection) modeling, mission design, geopolitical and legal considerations, economics, impact consequences, disaster response, impact risk assessment, decision to act, public education and communication.

Membership applications should include a CV and a brief description of interest and areas in which the candidate might contribute. Applications are distributed to the TC members and their comments assessed by the Chair before a recommendation is made to the IAF Secretariat.

Technical meetings or events outside of the iac

IAF Spring Meetings in Paris.

Other committee activities

Throughout the year, the TC may draft position statements and/or assessments in response to recent, or in preparation of upcoming, NEO related developments.