Besides being objects of great scientific interest, Near
Earth Objects (NEOs) also represent a well-founded
threat to life on our planet. However, up to now there
has been no a concerted international plan on how to
deal with the impact threat and how to organize, prepare,
and implement mitigation measures. The
European NEOShield project aims to address this
problem. NEOShield is a consortium of 13 research institutes,
universities, and industrial partners and includes
leading US and Russian space organizations.
The primary aim of the project is to study in detail the
three most promising mitigation techniques: the kinetic
impactor, blast deflection, and the gravity tractor, and
to devise feasible demonstration missions.
The NEOShield project is funded by the European
Union with a total of 5.8 million Euros for a period of
3.5 years. The kick-off meeting took place at the DLR
Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, in January
2012, while the first progress meeting was scheduled
on May 31 - June 1 at the Paris Observatory.
While we will give particular emphasis on the
NEOShield activity carried out at the Paris Observatory,
we will present and discuss the whole proposed 42
months work plan, which includes the tasks listed in
the following section.