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The Planetary Report • January/February 2010
Defending Our World
On the Cover: Objects blazing through Earth's atmosphere can be absolutely enchanting—when they are small enough. On September 30, 2008, a stunning fireball meteor lit up the night sky for a group of amateur astronomers camped in Oklahoma's Black Mesa State Park. Howard Erin's camera was set up on a hillside to record the look and activity of the Okie-Tex Star Party throughout the night when the spectacular bolide appeared, momentarily illuminating the entire observing field.
Features
SPECIAL ISSUE: PLANETARY DEFENSE
4 Protecting Earth: Whose Job Is It? Louis Friedman discusses who should be involved in planetary protection.
6 To Move An Asteroid: Could we deflect a dangerous asteroid? William Ailor looks at possible techniques.
12 Turning Cosmic Disaster Into Opportunity: Tom Jones looks at some of the benefits of NEOs.
18 We Make It Happen! Doing Our Part to Protect Earth: Bruce Betts summarizes The Planetary Society's contributions to solving planetary defense issues.
Departments
22 Members' Dialogue Politics and human space exploration.
23 Society News LightSail and IKAROS.
23 World Watch NASA's FY2010 budget.
The Planetary Report • January/February 2010
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