Astra's NEO page

Astra's Star Gate

I was long ago been bitten by a bug that made Near Earth orbiting objects a fascination for me. I believe that nearby objects should be more than a menace to fear. These objects harbor precious resources that pave our way to deeper space.

My interest in impact craters goes back to when I was a child fascinated by the mighty dinosaurs. Even then, scientists imagined that a great impact event could have modified the environment of the Cretaceous Earth. Although Hollywood has gloried the possibility of a hazardous impact, the truth remains that Earth is as likely to be stuck by a NEO as it was 65 million years ago.

One of the earliest pioneers of in-depth searches for nearby objects was Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, a co-discoverer of comet SL9, and expert on planetary impacts. I would like to dedicate this page to Dr. Shoemaker, in honor of his many efforts to discover and track these objects so near to us. In March 2000, the NEAR spacecraft was renamed to NEAR Shoemaker.

Astra's Stargate has a Near Earth Asteroid Page

Learn about Near Eath Asteroids, What are they, how to detect them, how we plan to defend the planet, and what you can do as an amateur astronomer to assist in the effort to chacterise and track them. Astra's NEA pages contain more indepth information about near Earth asteroids

Find out about NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission and discover ways to move a 10-m asteroid into orbit around the moon.

Look Out! Check JPL's Close Approach page to see what's coming near us!

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LINKS TO NEO DETECTION PROGRAMS

Pan-STARRS -- the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System page
Catalina Sky Survey Home Page
Siding Spring's Survey Catalina survey southern counterpart
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Discovered 33,500+ asteroids, data analysis continues - NASA Mission Page
Spacewatch Project Home Page
LINEAR Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research - from M.I.T.'sLincoln Laboratory
IAU: Minor Planet Center Use this site to report discoveries

PLANETARY DEFENSE

NEOCAM -Finding Asteroids Before they Find Us
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) - 8.4 m wide field telescope
Asteroid Radar Research Home page - they also have a great link page !
Asteroids Defending the Earth - Federation of American Scientists
Small BodyTargets of Spacecraft Mission - JPL
Know thy enemy - Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) - Vera C. Rubin Observatory
JPL Near Earth Objects PHA orbit diagrams
Earth Crossing Asteroids Main Menu

ASTEROID RESOURCE UTILIZATION

Permanent.com - A great site for space colonizers
Mining the Asteroids - SpaceRef.Com
Asteroid Mining Paper by M. J. Sonter
Comets, Culture & Currency - from Bob Kobres

IMPACT CRATERS!

Introduction to Earth Impact Database and link to Earth Impact Database from Planetary and Space Science Centre (PASSC)
Terrestial Impact Craters - - From Calvin J. Hamilton
Chicxulub Seismic Experiment Is this the one that caused the K-T extinctions?
Venusian Impact Craters - - From Views of the Solar System
The Planetary Society wisits impact debris in NEO Earth Expeditions
The Crater in NASA's backyard (Langley Research Center) - The Chesapeake Bay Bolide
Crater tourism? - Crater Explorer - Charles O’Dale - adventures in crater exporation

LINKS TO *COOL* NEO STUFF !

Check the orbit of your favorite NEO from JPL, it's dynamite
Play a free Asteroids Game !
Visualizing Asteroids - Asterank

ASTEROIDS and NEOs IN THE NEWS

2012 DA14 - Earth Flyby Reality Check
Chelyabinsk meteorite: Mystery revealed - Russia Beyond the Headlines
33 Pound Meteorite Found in Minnesota Corn Field - posted 6-18-13
Apophis info JPL - Observations Goldstone April 2013 improve orbit preditions
Check out the orbits for the 2005 YU55 that passed Earth on November 8, 2011
Give the Dog a Bone! - Kleopatra - a very interesting place. . .
Mile-Wide Asteroid to Pass Close to Earth in 2028 - CBAT IAU press release

SPACECRAFT VISIT NEARBY OBJECTS !

For updates to this list, check out Astra's Guide to Asteroid Missions here at the Stargate

Astra's personal favorite, the Dawn Mission to Vesta and Ceres
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) - Successful mission at Eros
Look at Images from NEAR's encounter with Mathilde June 1997
Stardust Home Page - Sample return mission to comet Wild2
ESA's Rosetta - Rendevous with Comet 46 P/Wirtanen
JPL's Deep Space 1 - A Comet Flyby Mission that uses Ion Propulsion!

NEO Pages

The Planetary Society's Shoemaker NEO Grant Program - for NEO observers
JPL's Near Earth Object Program

Other NEO Pages

International Meteor Organization (IMO) - What could be nearer than meteors?
Maui Space Surveillance Site (MSSS) U.S.Air Force Tracking Station
Space Debris Home Page This serious problem is explored by Russell D. Hoffman