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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

When even Bart Simpson is dodging asteroids, as he did on a recent episode of the popular TV show, threats from outer space must be much on the public mind. It's a topic high on the science agenda, as well, as evidenced by Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids, new in the UA Press Space Science Series. The book examines in depth the reality of the threat and proposes measures that can be initiated now to deal with it.

Bringing together more than 100 scientists from all over the world, the new book focuses on technical problems of searching for and identifying hazardous comets and asteroids and of intercepting and altering their orbits. Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids also considers defenses against approaching bodies, applying existing technology such as rocket boosters, solar sails, nuclear explosives, robotic mass drivers, and various propulsion systems. Over all, the volume demonstrates that cataclysmic impacts on Earth are possibilities that may be averted with tomorrow's technology.

(Extracted form the press release).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contents.

-Collaborating Authors.

-Preface.

-Part I-Small Bodies.

-Early Impacts: Earth Emergent From its Cosmic Environment.
-Impact Delivery of Volatiles and Organic Molecules.
-The Impact Hazard.
-Near-Earth Object Interception Workshop.

-Part II-Searches, Orbit Determination, and Prediction.

-Near-Earth Objects: Present Search Programs.
-Earth-Crossing Asteroids and Comets: Groundbased Search Strategies.
-Detection of Meteoroid Impacts by Optical Sensors in Earth Orbit.
-Warning Times and Impact Probabilities for Long-Period Comets.
-Predicting Close Approaches of Asteroids and Comets to Earth.
-The Role of Groundbased Radar in Near-Earth Object Hazard Identification and Mitigation.

-Part III-NEO Populations and Impact Flux.

-The Population of Earth-Crossing Asteroids.
-The Flux of Periodic Comets Near Earth.
-Collisional Lifetimes and Impact Statistics of Near-Earth Asteroids.
-Crater Size Distributions and Impact Probabilities on Earth From Lunar, Terrestrial-Planet, and Asteroid Cratering Data.
-The Record of Past Impacts on Earth.
-Are Impacts Correlated in Time?
-Hazards Due to Giant Comets: Climate and Short-Term Catastrophism.

-Part IV-Physical Properties.

-Physical Properties of Near-Earth Asteroids: Implications for the Hazard Issue.
-Classifying and Modeling NEO Material Properties and Interactions.
-Properties of Cometary Nuclei.
-A Current Working Model of a Comet Nucleus and Implications for NEO Interactions.

-Part V-Space Exploration.

-Missions to Near-Earth Objects.
-DoD Technologies and Missions of Relevance to Asteroid and Comet Exploration.
-Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids.

-Part VI-Effects of NEO Impact.

-Computer Simulation of Hypervelocity Impact and Asteroid Explosion.
-Consequences of Impacts of Cosmic Bodies on the Surface of the Earth.
-Tsunami Generated by Small Asteroid Impacts.
-Environmental Perturbations Caused by Impacts.
-Extraterrestrial Impacts and Mass Extinctions of Life.
-Extinctions at the Cretaceus-Tertiary Boundary: The Link to the Chicxulub Impact.
-Faunal Change Following the Cretaceus-Tertiary Impact: Using Paleontological Data to Assess the Hazards of Impacts.

-Part VII-Hazard Mitigation.

-Deflection and Fragmentation of Near-Earth Asteroids.
-Defending the Earth Against Impacts From Large Comets and Asteroids.
-The Coupling of Energy to Asteroids and Comets.
-Terminal Intercept for Less than One Orbital Period Warning.
-Vehicle Systems for Missions to Protect the Earth Against NEO Impacts.
-Space Launch Vehicles.
-The Role of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion in Mitigating Earth-Threatening Asteroids.
-Applications of Nuclear Propulsion to NEO Interceptors.
-Non-Nuclear Strategies for Deflecting Comets and Asteroids.

-Part VIII-Considerations for Future Work.

-The Impact Hazard: Issues for the Future.
-The Deflection Dilemma: Use Versus Misuse of Technologies for Avoiding Interplanetary Collision Hazards.
-Cost and Benefit of Near-Earth Object Detection and Interception.
-The Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazard in Perspective.
-Evaluating Space Resources in the Context of Earth Impact Hazards: Asteroid Threat or Asteroid Opportunity?
-The Lesson of Grand Forks: Can a Defense Against Asteroids Be Sustained?

-Appendix: Earth-Crossing Asteroids.

-Glosary.

-Acknowledgments.

-Index.

OUR REVIEW

Yes, you have read it right. More than 1,300 pages devoted to commenting point by point on everything having to do with the danger that objects coming from deep space may crash against the Earth implies. After the event of Shoemaker-Levy-9, which took place in the summer of 1994, the problem has ceased to be a mere scientific speculation and has attracted the attention of the people, who want more information and studies on this issue. This book can be said to be the compendium of all current knowledge that astronomers and engineers have on this phenomenon. not only from the point of view of astronomy but also from a technical viewpoint. Mankind will certainly have to learn how to fight it besides learning about it.

The 120 authors taking part in this volume examine the theme from their respective professional fields, all of them reaching the inescapable conclusion that the danger is real and is potentially destructive, yet it can be prevented by using the technology we have nowadays. In this sense the papers included in this book are not merely divulgative, but they also contribute all available information, including all necessary tables and mathematical formulae. The glossary and the appendix with the list of objects which are likely to crash some day against the Earth are a wonderful complement to this work.