[meteorite-list] The Planetary Society Awards Asteroid Trackers

[Ron Baalke]

NEWS RELEASE

The Planetary Society
65 N. Catalina Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106-2301 (626) 793-5100 Fax 
(626) 793-5528
E-mail: tps at planetary.org  Web: http://planetary.org

For Immediate Release: March 7, 2007                            
Contact: Susan Lendroth
 
The Planetary Society Awards Asteroid Trackers
Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants Given to Researchers from 
Canada, China, French Polynesia, Italy, and the United States

The Planetary Society again advanced the search for comets and 
asteroids that might someday strike our planet by awarding Gene 
Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants (NEO) to seven researchers from 
five countries.  Last night the winners were announced at the 
Planetary Defense Conference, a gathering of professional NEO 
researchers from around the world, being held in Washington, D.C.

The 2007 recipients are Robert E. Holmes, Jr, Donald P. Pray, and 
Brian D. Warner of the USA; Jean-Claude Pelle of French Polynesia; 
Quanzhi Ye of China; Eric J. Allen of Canada; and Giovanni Sostero of 
Italy.  Visit the Society's website at 
http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/neo_grants/updates.html 
for more information on the winners, as well as updates on the work 
of past winners.  The Society received 23 proposals from 11 countries.

"For billions of years, impacts have helped shape and reshape our 
solar system," said Planetary Society Director of Projects Bruce 
Betts.  "Only now are we able to track asteroids and comets to 
determine if any pose a threat to our world."

The Planetary Society awards Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants 
to amateur observers, observers in developing countries, and 
professional astronomers who, with seed funding, can greatly increase 
their programs' contributions to NEO research.

This year's recipients will use their money in a variety of ways:

Holmes of the Astronomical Research Institute in Illinois and Pelle 
in Tahiti will both purchase new CCD cameras. 
Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado will buy a new 
telescope. 
Pray, who operates the Carbuncle Hill Observatory in Rhode Island, 
will upgrade and put back into service an older telescope. 
Ye from China, an 18-year-old college student, will buy a laptop and 
software to help operate an automated telescope for the Lulin Sky 
Survey. 
Allen from Quebec will automate the dome of a telescope. 
Sostero, on behalf of the Associazione Friulana di Astronomia e 
Meteorologia in Italy, will purchase a new computer and other 
equipment. 
In all cases, the grants will greatly increase their abilities to 
observe NEOs. 

NEOs have collided with Earth throughout the planet's history, 
sometimes with cataclysmic results.  An impact off the north coast of 
Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago probably doomed the 
dinosaurs, while an explosion over Siberia a mere century ago leveled 
and burned hundreds of square miles of forest.  And in 2029, the 
asteroid Apophis, a few hundred meters in diameter, will come closer 
to Earth than our geosynchronous communications satellites and has a 
slim, but real, possibility of colliding with our planet on a return 
pass in 2036.

The Planetary Society named its NEO Grant program for Gene Shoemaker 
after his death in 1997.   Shoemaker was a highly respected leader in 
the study of impact structures and an advocate for NEO discovery and 
tracking programs.

Nearly 70% of the estimated total number of one-kilometer or larger 
objects that cross Earth's orbit have been discovered.  Government 
support for searches and follow-up programs remains modest, so 
programs like The Planetary Society's Gene Shoemaker NEO Grants fill 
a vital niche. Grant winners are especially critical for carefully 
measuring positions of recently discovered NEOs.  Once we know a NEO 
is out there, we need to learn whether or not it will hit Earth.  
Shoemaker NEO grant winners, past and present, operate many of the 
most successful asteroid follow-up observatories in the world.

Funding for the Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant program comes from The 
Planetary Society's members, whose voluntary dues and donations 
permit targeted support of research and development programs in a 
number of areas.

An international advisory group recommends candidates to receive the 
grant awards. The advisory group includes Planetary Society NEO Grant 
Coordinator Daniel D. Durda of the Southwest Research Institute; Alan 
Harris, Space Sciences Institute; Petr Pravec, Ondrejov Observatory, 
Czech Republic; Tim Spahr, Harvard Smithsonian Center for 
Astrophysics-Minor Planet Center; and Duncan Steel, Australian Centre 
for Astrobiology and Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. 

-o0o-

The Planetary Society:
The Planetary Society has inspired millions of people to explore 
other worlds and seek other life. Today, its international membership 
makes the non-governmental Planetary Society the largest space 
interest group in the world.  Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis 
Friedman founded The Planetary Society in 1980.