Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Credit: UNOOSA

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has issued a document: “Near-Earth Objects and Planetary Defence.”

“Addressing such a hazard, including the identification of objects that pose a risk of impact, and planning a corresponding mitigation campaign, require cooperative action in the interest of public safety on the part of the global community,” explains Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in the document’s foreword.

Warning network

The Office supports and cooperates with two entities established in 2014: the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG).

These two entities came into being through a series of recommendations for an international response to the risk of near-Earth object impact, endorsed by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Credit: UNOOSA

Emergency response

The goal of planetary defense is to ensure that all countries, in particular developing nations with limited capacity for predicting and mitigating a Near Earth Object (NEO) impact, are aware of potential risks as well as to ensure effective emergency response and disaster management in the event of a NEO impact.

As this area is crucial to ensuring human security, the United Nations continues to facilitate the processes for developing an international response to a NEO-impact threat, with the Office for Outer Space Affairs playing an active role.

The report is available at:

http://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2018/stspace/stspace73_0_html/st_space_073E.pdf