. 24/7 Space News .
NEO Search Foundation Established
how can we stop them when we don't know what's out there Los Angeles - September 1, 1999 - The Space Frontier Foundation has announced a new program to make financial grants to astronomers involved in the search for Earth-orbit-crossing asteroids.

The first grant will be made to Professor Vladimir Shkodrov and Dr. Violeta Ivanova of the Institute of Astronomy of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The second grant will be made to Dr. Petr Pravec of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The Grants are being issued by "The Watch," a project of the Foundation.

"It is becoming apparent that what was once ridiculed as being far fetched, an asteroid impacting the Earth, in actuality may have seriously impacted civilizations during the last few millennia," said Richard Godwin, Executive Director of The Watch. "We established this project to raise funds for asteroid detection because a large impact would produce devastating consequences for the human race if it happened now."

Asteroid observations are currently being performed by projects such as the U.S. Air Force's LINEAR program, SpaceWatch, Spaceguard and the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory's NEAT program. However, the entire space around the Earth cannot be viewed from the United States alone, so The Watch is helping to bring other observatories to the search.

"These other countries do not have the funding to obtain the latest equipment for discovering and tracking asteroids, but we want to ensure that this work gets completed as soon as possible," continued Godwin. "That means helping these very capable astronomers to do their work and report back their findings. This is a more serious global issue than the public has been lead to believe."

The grant recipients were agreed upon by The Watch Council, which includes some of the most notable names in asteroid research: Dr. Richard Binzel of MIT, Dr. Tom Gehrels of University of Arizona, Dr. Eleanor "Glo" Helin of NASA/JPL, Dr. John Lewis of University of Arizona, and Dr. Brian Marsden of The Minor Planet Center at Harvard. The Watch Council will meet and be available for interviews during the annual conference of The Space Frontier Foundation in Los Angeles on September 23-26, 1999. Dr. Alan Hale, of Comet Hale-Bopp fame, will open the conference.

  • 1999 Space Frontier Conference - September 23-26

  • Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey
  • ACM Virtual Pressroom
  • ACM Conference Site
  • Impact at NASA
  • Torino International Spaceguard Workshop
  • Asteroid Views

    Current NEO Articles at SpaceDaily

  • SpaceGuard: A Brief History
  • Spaceguard and Humanity
  • Collisions Create Asteroid Families
  • Dealing With the Impact Hazard
  • Spaceguard and the Amateur Astronomer - Opinion at SpaceDaily
  • Close Up Via Arecibo
  • Asteroid Danger Scale Developed
  • Conference To Discuss Asteroid Danger
  • Asteroid Danger Scale Developed
  • Close Up Via Arecibo
  • Does Spaceguard Need a UN Office - Opinion at SpaceDaily
  • SpaceGuard Needs More Than Half Measures

    Related News Baskets at SpaceDaily

  • StarDust News - SpaceDaily Special Report
  • Deep Space One - SpaceDaily Special Report
  • NEAR News - SpaceDaily Special Report
  • Space Science - SpaceDaily Special Report




    Thanks for being here;
    We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

    With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

    Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

    If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
    SpaceDaily Contributor
    $5 Billed Once


    credit card or paypal
    SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
    $5 Billed Monthly


    paypal only














  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.