At a Special Luncheon Address at the 37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Montreal, Canada, the Chairman of the ASE's Committee on NEOs, Rusty Schweickart, advised the international gathering of scientists that their political colleagues would soon be turning to them for advice on asteroid impacts.

The ASE NEO Committee and its international Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation will be soon complete and submit its report and recommendations to the United Nations regarding protecting the Earth from future asteroid impacts. The report, Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response, will be formally introduced in the 2009 sessions of the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in Vienna, Austria.

In his address Mr. Schweickart emphasized that the first question the delegates to the UN may well ask of their scientific colleagues is whether protective measures regarding asteroid impact threats is an issue ripe for their consideration and deliberation. Schweickart assured his scientific colleagues that the answer is "yes" and presented the basis supporting his position.

Schweickart's briefing paper and presentation are available respectively at http://www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/COSPAR-paper.pdf, and http://www.space-explorers.org/committees/NEO/docs/COSPAR-slides.pdf

For more information, contact:

Rusty Schweickart, Chairman
ASE NEO Committee
rs@well.com
707-343-1627