Hazards Due To Comets and Asteroids; with 120 collaborating authors

Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 1994. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good. xiii, [1], 1300, [4] pages. Figures. Formulae, Tables. References. Appendix. Glossary. Index. Decorative front and back cover. This is part of the Space Science Series. Among the sections are: Small Bodies; Searches, Orbit Determination, an Prediction; NEO Populations and Impact Flux; Physical Properties; Space Exploration; Effects of NEO Impact; Hazard Mitigation, and Considerations for Future Work. The topics addressed include, in part: Near-Earth Object Interception, Groundbased Search, Warning Times, Earth-crossing Asteroids, Comets, Crater Size, Human Exploration, Hypervelocity Impact, Asteroid Explosion, Tsunami, Mass extinctions, Chicxulub Impact, Deflection, Fragmentation, Terminal Intercept, Space Launch Vehicles, Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, Interplanetary Collision, and The Lesson of Grand Forks. Anton M.J. "Tom" Gehrels (February 21, 1925 - July 11, 2011) was a Dutch-American astronomer, Professor of Planetary Sciences, and Astronomer at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Gehrels pioneered the first photometric system of asteroids in the 1950s, and wavelength dependence of polarization of stars and planets in the 1960s, each resulting in an extended sequence of papers in the Astronomical Journal. He was Principal Investigator for the Imaging Photopolarimeter experiment on the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 first flybys of Jupiter and Saturn in the 1970s. Gehrels initiated the Space Science Series of textbooks, was General Editor for the first 30 volumes of the University of Arizona Press, and set the style by participating in the editing of six of them. In 1993, the U.S. Department of Defense declassified information dealing with frequent explosions in the upper atmosphere caused by meteoric impact. It is estimated that impacts have occurred of a magnitude equivalent to the atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima. Not all such space voyagers meet their end in the atmosphere, however; huge craters attest to the bombardment of earth over millions of years, and a major impact may have resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs. An impact in Siberia near the beginning of this century proves that such events are not confined to geologic time. Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids marks a significant step in the attempt to come to grips with the threats posed by such phenomena. It brings together more than one hundred scientists from around the world, who draw on observational and theoretical research to focus on the technical problems related to all aspects of dealing with these hazards: searching for and identifying hazardous comets and asteroids; describing their statistics and characteristics; intercepting and altering the orbits of dangerous objects; and applying existent technologies, rocket boosters, rendezvous and soft-landing techniques, instrumentation, to such missions. The book considers defensive options for diverting or disrupting an approaching body, including solar sails, kinetic-energy impacts, nuclear explosives, robotic mass drivers, and various propulsion systems. A cataclysmic impact posing a threat to life on Earth is a possibility that tomorrow's technology is capable of averting. This book examines in depth the reality of the threat and proposes practical measures that can be initiated now should we ever need to deal with it.