Near Earth Objects

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Term Paper Title	Near Earth Objects
# of Words	687
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.75

Near Earth Objects

Near Earth Objects

     What are NEOs?  Where do they come from?  Do they pose any real threat to
Earth? Can they provide viable space resources?  All of these questions are now
under investigation by planetary scientist.     There are two highly recognized
research programs that I will discuss with you.  The Spaceguard program is
sponsored and run by NASA Ames Space Science Division: Asteroid and Comet Impact
Hazard.  Also under the direction of Dr. Tom Gehrels the University of Arizona
has the Spacewatch program.
     NEOs can be either asteroid or comets.  Ninety percent of the
information that I came across discussed asteroids.  Therefore, I will
concentrate on asteroids alone.  I'm not fully knowledgeable on the subject but
I did learn a great deal.
     What are NEOs?  The "Webster's New World Dictionary" states, "Any of the
small planets between Mars and Jupiter".  The "Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia
from Infopedia" states, "One of the many small or minor planets that are members
of the solar system and that move in elliptical orbits primarily between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter".
     Where dot they come from?  The NEOs are small objects (<7 miles) with a
range of compositions spanning all common asteroid types.  They are derived from
a mixture of main-belt collisional fragments and burned-out short-period comets.
According to Dr. Tom Gehrels of the University of Arizona Spacewatch program,
"The total number of NEOs over 100 meters is estimated to be about 100,000, with
150 or so currently known".
     Do they pose any real threat to Earth?  The Earth orbits the Sun in sort
of a cosmic shooting gallery, subject to impacts from asteroids.  It is only
fairly recent that we have come to appreciate that these impacts by asteroids
pose a significant hazard to life and property.  Although the annual probability
of the Earth being struck by a large asteroid is extremely small, the
consequences of such a collision are so devastating that it is prudent to assess
the nature of the threat and prepare to deal with it.
     Studies have shown that the risk from a cosmic impact increases with the
size of the projectile.  The greatest risk is associated with objects large
enough to perturb the Earth's clima...

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