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WASHINGTON — A report released by the White House June 20 outlines a set of goals to address the small but “high-consequence” threat posed by near Earth objects (NEOs), but does not commit to spending more money to achieve them.
The “National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan” document, released by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy in cooperation with other federal agencies, including NASA, establishes goals for searching for NEOs and preparing for any possible impacts. It builds upon a strategy document released by the Obama administration in 2016.
The new report outlines five goals for government agencies to achieve: enhance NEO detection, tracking and characterization techniques; improve NEO modeling and prediction capabilities; develop technologies for deflecting or disrupting NEOs; increase international coordination on NEO issues; and strengthen emergency procedures and protocols in the event of a threatened impact.
