Call for Papers 2011 Planetary Defense Conference

From: http://rescommunis.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/2011-iaa-planetary-defense-conference-call-for-papers/
The European Space Agency has issued a call for papers for the 2011 IAA Planetary Defense Conference on 09-12 May 2011 in Bucharest, Romania. The call covers numerous topics including Legal and Policy issues:

Call for papers
Papers are solicited for the 2011 IAA Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids sponsored by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and The Aerospace Corporation (information on sponsorships is available at http://www.pdc2011.org/).
The theme for the conference is “From Threat to Action.” Papers are solicited in the following areas:
Potentially hazardous Objects – Recent Progress
• Discovery statistics and projections (ground-based & space-based)
• Observational refinements including non-gravitational effects and keyholes
• Lessons learned from recent discoveries including Earth impacting 2008 TC3
Discovery and Tracking Resources and Plans
• Program plans (e.g., NASA’s NEO program, ESA’s SSA program)
• Survey completion estimates; ground-based and space-based surveys
• The status of next generation surveys (e.g., PanSTARRS and LSST)
• The discovery and tracking of 50-meter class PHOs
• Utilizing archival and historical data

Impacts, Consequences and Education
• Historical information
• Modeling ocean and land impacts
• Consequences, impact frequency vs. size of impactor
• Planning for a short or no warning time event
• Public/media education and notification

Mission Planning & Technologies
• Viable deflection concepts and technologies; technology readiness and constraints
• Launch windows and mission designs for chemical, nuclear thermal, and ion drive missions
• Minimum-time trajectories for NEO missions
• Current capabilities for NEO deflection missions
• Matching mitigation options with available technologies and action timeline
Campaign Planning
• Human and robotic campaigns that inform all three NEO issues: science, exploration and planetary defense
• Decision tree, timelines and decision-to-act criteria (e.g., Impact probability thresholds)
• Threat evolution with time – refining the threat
• What do we do if a threat is detected tomorrow?

Legal, Policy, Political Framework for Planetary Defense
• Current international agreements and coordination activities
• Organizing, coordinating, and managing an international effort
• Impact of public opinion on decision to act and choice of mitigation method
• Planning for and consequences of a false alarm

Moving Forward on Planetary Defense
• Funding levels and priority actions to build and maintain readiness
• Current national and international funded activities that support planetary defense
Participants will develop a set of actionable recommendations that will help to improve our ability to successfully defend Earth from possible impacts and prepare for unexpected NEO-related disasters. Throughout the conference asteroid Apophis will be considered as a reference scenario to focus the discussions (current information on Apophis is posted at http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/).
The conference will follow the model of the 1st IAA Planetary Defense Conference held in Granada, Spain in 2009–see http://www.congrex.nl/09c04/ for details on the 2009 conference.

ABSTRACT SUBMITTAL
Technical paper abstracts (250 to 500 words in length) in the areas described above or related to planetary defense will be accepted electronically through the official ESA conference website (http://www.pdc2011.org/) as of September 1, 2010. Please be sure to designate the topic area your paper addresses (see topics listed above).
The deadline for receipt of abstracts is January 14, 2011. Letters of official acceptance and instructions for paper submission will be mailed on or before 15 February 2011.
Accepted papers (including poster papers) will be published in the official conference Proceedings. Selected peer-reviewed papers will be published in Acta Astronautica. Authors of all poster papers will be invited to present two-minute overview presentations during the regular session. The format for papers will be that provided on the conference web site, http://www.pdc2011.org/.
STUDENT COMPETITION
Undergraduate students and graduate researchers are invited to submit abstracts in two major categories:
• MAKING THE WORLD AWARE. Participants are requested to develop and study creative ideas to help deepen the understanding of the public, decision makers and academia on the nature of threats posed by Near Earth Objects.
• FROM THREAT TO ACTION: Papers may also be submitted on any of the diverse areas covered by the conference, including celestial mechanics, space engineering, astrodynamics, political sciences, social sciences, etc., as they relate to planetary defense.
The best student paper in each category will be awarded a prize.
Note: The aim of the student competition is to help promote academic work and informed political debate by enhancing research and general understanding essential for sound decision making on NEO impact threats in years to come.
Undergrate students and graduate researchers submitting the abstract should tick the box “I will participate in the Student Competition”.