Wed. May 29, 2024 5:15 PM - 6:45 PM Poster Hall (Exhibition Hall 6, Makuhari Messe)

convener:Makoto Yoshikawa(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Patrick Michel(Universite Cote D Azur Observatoire De La Cote D Azur CNRS Laboratoire Lagrange), Shin-ichiro Okumura(Japan Spaceguard Association)

The activities that focus on the avoidance of collisions of small solar system bodies such as asteroids and comets with the Earth belong to the topic called planetary defense. These activities began in earnest in the 1990s. Now, nearly 30 years later, there has been remarkable progress. More than 33,000 Near Earth Objects (NEOs) have been discovered so far, and spacecraft have been sent to more than 10 NEOs. Furthermore, in 2022, the DART mission by NASA made the first attempt to change the orbit of an asteroid using a kinetic impactor successfully. The ESA Hera mission will launch in October 2024 to investigate in detail the results of the DART impact as well as the characteristics of its target. In parallel, other NEO missions such as OSIRIS-APEX (an extended mission of OSIRIS-REx) of NASA, and Hayabusa2# (an extended mission of Hayabusa2) of JAXA are on their way to their respective target. In 2029, the asteroid Apophis will come closer than Earth's geostationary satellite orbit to our planet, and is the target of OSIRIS-APEX that will visit the asteroid a few days after its closest approach to the Earth. Several concepts are also under study to visit Apophis before and during its passage, offering a great possible international synergy with OSIRIS-APEX. Internationally, a wide range of activities such as discussions in groups established under the United Nations, international conferences, and outreach activities are actively carried out. This lively situation motivates presentations on ongoing relevant activities in various areas covering ground and space based investigations, theoretical/technical research, as well as social science research on NEO and planetary defense. We will also discuss what kind of research or action, including international cooperation, should be undertaken from now on for the protection of our planet against an impact.