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Flame » in reply to ESA getting priorities straight

"As a result, the panel decided that ESA should leave detection to ground-based telescopes for the time being"

They definately are thinking clearly.

From: ESA Considers The Next Step In Assessing The Risk From Near-Earth Objects

Alan Harris, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Berlin, and Chairman of NEOMAP, says,

"The task has been very difficult because the goalposts have changed. When the studies were commissioned, the discovery business was in no way as advanced as it is now."

"Today, a number of organisations are building large telescopes on Earth that promise to find a very large percentage of the NEO population at even smaller sizes than visible today."

As a result, the panel decided that ESA should leave detection to ground-based telescopes for the time being, until the share of the remaining population not visible from the ground becomes better known.

The need for a space-based observatory will then be re-assessed. The panel placed its highest priority on rendezvous missions, and in particular, the Don Quijote mission concept.

Sounds good to me. Hope NASA gives them the help they want and probably need. ESA may find it difficult to fund both this and the Mars focused Aurora program they are so keen on which most space interested folks can relate to.

Regards,
Mark

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