The Iowa State University Asteroid Deflection Research Center (ADRC) is sponsoring an Asteroid Deflection Research Symposium on October 23�24, 2008, at Doubletree Hotel Crystal City-National Airport, Arlington, Virginia.

The purpose of this symposium is to exchange technical information and to develop an integrated multidisciplinary R and D program for asteroid deflection/fragmentation using high-energy as well as low-energy options, according to Bong Wie, the Vance D. Coffman Chair Professor in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State and ADRC director.

Planetary defense researchers from such agencies as NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the National Research Council as well as industry and academia, plan to participate in the symposium.

These are researchers who are currently involved in exploring and/or developing various options for asteroid deflection/fragmentation.

The ADRC was established at Iowa State last spring to coordinate and lead a research effort to address the complex engineering and science issues of asteroid deflection.

The collision of a moderately large asteroid or comet (also referred to as a near-Earth object) with Earth would have catastrophic consequences. Such events, Wie points out, have occurred in the past and will likely occur again in the future.

"For the first time in history," he adds, "we have practically viable options to counter this threat, but there is no consensus on how to reliably deflect asteroids in a timely manner. This research symposium is a first step in bringing researchers together to discuss options and develop a roadmap for determining the best solution."