ASTEROID DAY - A GLOBAL DAY OF AWARENESS IS SLATED FOR JUNE 30, 2015 DECLARATION TO INCREASE DETECTION OF DANGEROUS ASTEROIDS BY 100X IS SIGNED BY MORE THAN 100 LEADING SCIENTISTS, ASTRONAUTS AND BUSINESS LEADERS AROUND THE WORLD LONDON AND SAN FRANCISCO (December 3, 2014)— Astrophysicist Dr. Brian May, founding member and lead guitarist of the rock band Queen, joined Lord Martin Rees, UK Astronomer Royal, at the London Science Museum to host a press conference to announce ASTEROID DAY, a global awareness campaign to educate the world about asteroids. The event was linked to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco where Ryan Wyatt, Director of the Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization, hosted Astronauts Tom Jones, Ed Lu, and Apollo 9 Astronaut Rusty Schweickart. Bill Nye, the Science Guy and CEO of the Planetary Society, joined via video from New York. A central focus of the event was the release of a 100x Declaration, calling for the 100-fold increase in the detection and monitoring of asteroids. Lord Rees read the declaration, which resolves to “solve humanity’s greatest challenges to safeguard our families and quality of life on Earth in the future. The Declaration calls for three key actions: • Employ the available technology to detect and track near-Earth asteroids that threaten human populations • A rapid hundred-fold (100x) acceleration of the discovery and tracking of NEOS. • Global adoption of Asteroid Day on June 30, 2015, to heighten awareness of the asteroid hazard and our efforts to prevent future impacts. The 100x Declaration was signed by more than 100 noted scientists, physicists, artists and business leaders from 30 countries, including Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Anousheh Ansari, Kip Thorne, Stewart Brand, investors Shervin Pishevar and Steve Jurvetson, Alan Eustace and Peter Norvig of Google, Peter Gabriel, Jane Luu, Helen Sharman, Jill Tarter and more than 38 astronauts and cosmonauts. For a full listing of signatories, visit: http://www.asteroidday.org/signatories-list “The more we learn about asteroid impacts, the clearer it becomes that the human race has been living on borrowed time,” remarked Brian May. “We are currently aware of less than one percent of objects comparable to the one that impacted at Tunguska, and nobody knows when the next big one will hit. It takes just ONE.” “The ancients were correct in their belief that the heavens and the motion of astronomical bodies affect life on Earth - just not in the way they imagined,” explained Lord Martin Rees. ”Sometimes those heavenly bodies run into Earth. This is why we must make it our mission to find asteroids before they find us.” Events for Asteroid Day will be organised by individuals and independent organisations around the world on 30 June, the anniversary of the asteroid impact at Tunguska, Siberia, which destroyed 800 square miles, the equivalent size of any major metropolitan area. The events will focus the world’s attention not just on the nature of asteroids, but importantly lead discussions on solutions that will protect all of humanity from future asteroid impacts. Members of the public are encouraged to go to asteroidday.org to sign up and become a founding member of Asteroid Day. The Founding Partners of Asteroid Day include The Planetary Society, Astronomy Magazine, Association of Space Explorers, California Academy of Sciences, Seattle’s Museum of Flight, the Sentinel Mission, and Starmus. “We have the technology to deflect dangerous asteroids through kinetic impactors and gravity tractors but only if we have years of advance warning of their trajectories, stated Dr. Ed Lu, three-time Shuttle astronaut and co-founder of the Sentinel Mission. “Now we need the resolve to go forward. It is the only natural disaster we know how to prevent.” "Someday humankind will have to prevent an asteroid impact, We will need to work together to get it done,” said Bill Nye, CEO of The Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization that empowers citizens to advance space science and exploration, funds amateur and underfunded astronomers searching for nearEarth asteroids. “We will play a significant role in promoting Asteroid Day,” Nye continued. “The first step toward protecting our planet is to find and track the swarm of space rocks that cross orbits with Earth. Let’s get going!" “Finding hazardous asteroids early through an accelerated search program is the key to preventing future destructive impacts,” said Dr. Tom Jones, veteran shuttle astronaut, planetary scientist, and chairman of the Association of Space Explorers’ (ASE) Committee on Near-Earth Objects. “The 100x Declaration will focus space policymakers on that important goal. ASE called last year for a stepped-up, global search effort; this can lead within a decade to an international deflection demonstration mission to show we know how to nudge an asteroid. Once we know what’s coming, we can design an effective space deflection campaign against dangerous objects we find.” Ryan Wyatt emphasized research opportunities as well as the potential threat. “Asteroids and comets harbor physical evidence that can illuminate the history of where we came from—the origin and evolution of our planet and the water that makes life possible. And of course, these same objects could literally impact the future of our species and life on Earth.” Wyatt added, “For all these reasons, we hope to cultivate greater awareness about the need to identify and understand asteroids and their small celestial siblings.” Additional information on Asteroid Day, the 100x Asteroid Declaration, as well as photos and video from the December 3rd announcement is available at www.asteroidday.org. Join the discussion on TWITTER: @asteroidday #AsteroidDay Facebook: www.facebook.com/AsteroidDay Media Contact: US: Diane Murphy ([email protected]); +1/202.361.9681 UK: +44/07818830551 The 100x Asteroid Declaration is as follows: As scientists and citizens, we strive to solve humanity’s greatest challenges to safeguard our families and quality of life on Earth in the future. Asteroids impact Earth: such events, without intervention, will cause great harm to our societies, communities and families around the globe. Unlike other natural disasters, we know how to prevent asteroid impacts. There are a million asteroids in our solar system that have the potential to strike Earth and destroy a city, yet we have discovered less than 10,000 — just one percent — of them. We have the technology to change that situation. Therefore, we, the undersigned, call for the following action: 1. Employ available technology to detect and track NearEarth Asteroids that threaten human populations via governments and private and philanthropic organisations. 2. A rapid hundredfold (100x) acceleration of the discovery and tracking of NearEarth Asteroids to 100,000 per year within the next ten years. 3. Global adoption of Asteroid Day, heightening awareness of the asteroid hazard and our efforts to prevent impacts, on June 30, 2015. By signing below, you declare that you share the concerns of this esteemed community of astronauts, scientists, business leaders, artists and concerned citizens to raise awareness about protecting and preserving life on our planet by preventing future asteroid impacts. 100x Asteroid Declaration Signatories First Name Last Name Affiliation Adigun Abiodun Founder of African Space Foundation and member of the UN COPUS Bill Anders Astronaut. One of the first three people to travel to the moon Clayton Anderson Astronaut and distinguished lecturer at Iowa State in Aerospace Engineering Anousheh Ansari Co-founder of Prodea System and title sponsor of the Ansari X Prize Sergey Avdeev Russian pilot-cosmonaut of Russia #074/274 and engineer Amin Badr-El-Din Founder, CEO of BADR Investments. A fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society John-David F. Bartoe Astronaut and former Research Manager for the International Space Station Brian Binnie Former US Navy officer and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne Roger Blandford Professor of Physics at Stanford University and at SLAC Roger Bonnet Former Director of Scientific Programmes at the ESA Stewart Brand American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog Larry Brilliant Physician, technologist and the former director of Google.org David Brin Scientist and award-winning author of science fiction Brian Burton Musician, producer, member of Broken Bells Sergio Camacho Space scientist at CRECTEALC, former Chairman UN Working Group on NEO's Arthur Carty Executive Director, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterlo Richard Carty President & CEO, Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. Gregory Chamitoff Astronaut, ISS Flight Engineer, Professor of Aerospace Engineering Franklin Chang Diaz Chairman and CEO, Ad Astra Rocket Co. Developing VASIMR® Clark Chapman Asteroid researcher. Senior scientist, Southwest Research Institute Vikram Chauhan Chief of Design and Experimental Test Pilot at Hindustan Aeronautics Stuart Clark Science journalist, author and featured in the film 51ºNORTH Mary Cleave Astronaut and NASA Assoc. Admin. for the Science Mission Directorate Jean Clervoy ESA Astronaut, Novespace chairman. He flew three space shuttle missions Eileen Collins First female pilot and first female commander of a space shuttle Brian Cox Professor of Particle Physics at The University of Manchester John Creighton Former NASA astronaut who flew three Space Shuttle missions Robert Crippen Astronaut and Deputy Director NASA Shuttle Operations Richard Crowther Professor of Astronautics, former chair UN Working Group on NEOs Lewis Dartnell Astrobiology research fellow at University of Leicester, science writer Richard Dawkins Ethologist, evolutionary biologist and best-selling author Samuel Durrance Astronaut and Professor of Physics and Space Sciences, Florida Tech David Eicher Editor-in-Chief at Astronomy Magazine and science author John Ellis Theoretical scientist at King's College London and at CERN Alan Eustace Google Exec. Holds the world record for the highest-altitude free fall jump Reinhold Ewald European Astronaut John McCreary Fabian Astronaut and US Air Force Colonel. He flew two space shuttle missions Christer Fuglesang First Swedish Astronaut. Professor in Space Physics at KTH Peter Gabriel Singer-songwriter, musician and humanitarian activist Richard Garriott First Second Generation Astronaut. Flew privately to ISS aboard Soyuz TMA 13 James George Former Canadian ambassador to Iran and PATM member Chamkaur Ghag High Energy Physics Group at University College London Philip Groves Writer of IMAX’s Asteroid Impact, EVP Global Distribution, IMAX Entertainment Chris Hadfield Canadian Astronaut, former NASA Director of Operations in Russia Rick Hauck US Navy Captain, former fighter pilot and astronaut Tom Hennen Astronaut who flew aboard space shuttle mission STS-44 John Herrington A retired United States naval aviator and former NASA astronaut Piet Hut Professor of astrophysics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Garik Israelian STARMUS Festival founder and astrophysicist Naveen Jain Entrepreneur, Founder and Executive Chairman Moon Express Peter Jankowitsch Chair of Austrian Air & Space Agency and former ambassador Peter Jenniskens Senior research scientist at the Carl Sagan Center Prof. Dave Jewitt Astrophysicist who co-discovered the Kuiper Belt with Dr. Jane Luu Thomas Jones Astronaut, planetary scientist. Chairman, ASEs Committee on Near-Earth Objec Steve Jurvetson Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) Mark Kelly Astronaut, engineer and U.S. Navy Captain. Susan Kilrain Astronaut, US Navy aviator. Legislative Specialist for Shuttle missions Sir Harold Kroto 1996 Nobel Laureate. Florida State University chemistry professor Pedro Lacerda Research Group Leader in Cometary Science at the Max Planck Institute Alexey Leonov Cosmonaut. On 18 March 1965, he became the first human to walk in space Jing Li UCLA Researcher in Department of Earth, Planetary & Space Sciences Erik Lindbergh Trustee of the XPRIZE Foundation, Founder of Powering Imagination Michael Lopez-Alegria Astronaut, a veteran of three space shuttle missions and one ISS mission Jim Lovell Astronaut. Commander of Apollo 13 and command module pilot of Apollo 8 Edward Lu Astronaut and co-founder of the Sentinel Mission Jane Luu Astrophysicist who co-discovered the Kuiper Belt with Prof Dave Jewitt Brian May Queen co-founder, legendary guitarist and astrophysicist Michael McCulley Astronaut and first submariner in space. US Navy Captain Ulf Merbold First West German citizen and second German native to have flown in space James Mercer Musician, producer, member of Broken Bells Ernst Messerschmid German Astronaut and physicist at University of Stuttgard David Morrison Planetary scientist. Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Study of Life Matt Mullenweg Wordpress founder, technologist and entrepreneur Nathan Myhrvold Co-founder of Intellectual Ventures and former CTO at Microsoft Peter Norvig Google Director Research, former NASA Head of Computer Sciences Bill Nye Science educator, comedian, television host, writer and scientist Bill Oefelein Former test pilot instructor, naval officer and astronaut John Philips Astronaut, flight engineer on shuttle, Soyuz, and ISS Shervin Pishevar Co-founder Sherpa Ventures and Advisor Uber Technologies Dorin Prunariu First Romanian Astronaut, President of ROMSPACE, fmr Chairman UN COPU Lord Martin Rees British Astronomer Royal, Cosmologist and astrophysicist Ken Reightler Astronaut. US Navy Captain. Professor at the US Naval Academy Richard Richards Astronaut. Naval officer and aviator, test pilot and chemical engineer Jerry Ross Astronaut and veteran of seven space shuttle missions Ray Rothrock CEO RedSeal Networks and former Partner Venrock Hans Schlegel Consultant to ESA, Retired German Astronaut Rusty Schweickart Astronaut. Co-founder ASE, B612 Foundation Rick Searfoss Astronaut, US Air Force Colonel and Founder Astro Success Programs Rakesh Sharma First Indian Astronaut and former Indian Air Force test pilot Helen Sharman First British Astronaut and first woman to visit the Mir space station Carolyn Shoemaker Astronomer and co-discoverer of comet Shoemaker-Levy Michael Simpson Executive Director, Secure World Foundation Michael Smith Director, Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, University of Kent Jill Tarter Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute Jay Tate Former army officer. Director of the Spaceguard Centre and the NNEOIC, UK Kip Thorne Theoretical physicist concentrating in gravitational physics and astrophysics Sir Crispin Tickell British diplomat, environmentalist and academic Franz Viehbock First Austrian Astronaut, and an electrical engineer Frans G. Von Der Dunk Professor of Space Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jim Voss Scholar in Residence at the University of Colorado. He is a retired astronaut. Charles Walker American engineer who flew on three space shuttle missions Mary Ellen Weber Astronaut, veteran of two spaceflights, nationally competitive skydiver Robert Williams Former director of, STScI, past president of the International Astronomical Unio
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