Covers in a comprehensive fashion all aspects of cosmic hazards and possible strategies for contending with these threats through a comprehensive planetary defense strategy. This handbook brings together in a single reference work a rich blend of information about the various types of cosmic threats that are posed to human civilization by asteroids, comets, bolides, meteors, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, cosmic radiation and other types of threats that are only recently beginning to be understood and studied.

Table of Contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• The Handbook Sponsors
• List of Contributors
• Part I Introduction
• Introduction to the Handbook of Cosmic Hazards and Planetary Defense - Joseph N. Pelton and Firooz Allahdadi
• Part II Solar Flares
• Preface
• Solar Flares - Frederick M. Jonas
• Solar Flares and Impact on Earth - Mikhail Ya. Marov and Vladimir D. Kuznetsov
• Part III Coronal Mass Ejections
• Preface
• Coronal Mass Ejections - Maher A. Dayeh
• Fundamental Aspects of Coronal Mass Ejections - Carlos Alexandre Wuensche
• Part IV Sun and Solar Wind Monitors
• Preface
• Early Solar and Heliophysical Space Missions - Joseph N. Pelton
• NASA Wind Satellite (1994) - Adam Szabo
• Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) (1995) - B. Fleck and O. C. St. Cyr
• Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) - W. Dean Pesnell
• STEREO as a ‘Planetary Hazards’ Mission - M. Guhathakurta and B. J. Thompson
• Part V The Earth's Natural Protective Systems and the Van Allen Belts
• Preface
• Earth's Natural Protective System: Van Allen Radiation Belts - Sayavur I. Bakhtiyarov
• Part VI Cosmic Radiation
• Preface
• Basics of Solar and Cosmic Radiation and Hazards - Joseph N. Pelton
• Medical Concerns with Space Radiation and Radiobiological Effects - Tore Straume
• Solar Radiation and Spacecraft Shielding - David F. Medina
• Part VII Geomagnetic Storm and Substorm Missions
• Preface
• Cluster Technical Challenges and Scientific Achievements - C. P. Escoubet, A. Masson, H. Laakso, M. G. G. T. Taylor, J. Volpp, D. Sieg, M. Hapgood and M. L. Goldstein
• IMAGE Mission: Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration - James L. Green
• International Sun Earth Explorers 1 and 2 - C. T. Russell
• ISAS-NASA GEOTAIL Satellite (1992) - A. Nishida and Toshifumi Mukai
• Part VIII The NOAA Space Weather Program
• Preface
• Dashboard Display of Solar Weather - Su-Yin Tan
• NOAA Satellites and Solar Backscatter Ultra Violet (SBUV) Subsystems - Su-Yin Tan
• Part IX Micrometeorites, Asteroids, and Comets
• Preface
• Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 - Frederick M. Jonas and Firooz Allahdadi
• Key Reports on Cosmic Hazards and Planetary Defense Issues and Initiatives - Joseph N. Pelton
• Deep Impact and Related Missions - Michael F. A'Hearn and Lindley N. Johnson
• NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission - Michele Gates and Lindley N. Johnson
• OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample-Return Mission - Dante S. Lauretta
• Sentinel: A Space Telescope Program to Create a 100-Year Asteroid Impact Warning - Harold J. Reitsema and Edward T. Lu
• Space-Based Infrared Discovery and Characterization of Minor Planets with NEOWISE - A. Mainzer, J. Bauer, T. Grav, R. Cutri, J. Masiero, R. S. McMillan, C. Nugent, S. Sonnett, R. Stevenson, R. Walker and E. Wright
• Part X Ground-Based Discovery Efforts
• Preface
• European Operational Initiative on NEO Hazard Monitoring - Simonetta Di Pippo and Ettore Perozzi
• NEO Discovery and Follow-up Surveys - Donald K. Yeomans
• Part XI Impact Risk Assessment and Estimation
• Preface
• Impact Risk Estimation and Assessment Scales - Steve Chesley and Paul Chodas
• Part XII Impact Consequences
• Preface
• Airburst Modeling - Mark Boslough
• Water Impact Modelling - Souheil M. Ezzedine and Paul L. Miller
• Part XIII Information Resources
• Preface
• Minor Planet Center - Gareth V. Williams and Timothy B. Spahr
• Part XIV Defending Against Planetary Threats
• Preface
• Defending Against Asteroids and Comets - David P. S. Dearborn and Paul L. Miller
• International Astronomical Union and the Neo Hazard - Karel A. van der Hucht and Johannes Andersen
• NEOSHIELD - A Global Approach to Near-earth Object Impact Threat Mitigation - L. Drube, A. W. Harris, T. Hoerth, P. Michel, D. Perna and F. Schäfer
• United Nation Activities - Joseph N. Pelton and Sergio Camacho-Lara
• Part XV Mounting Hazards of Man-Made Threats in Space
• Preface
• Hazard of Orbital Debris - Heiner Klinkrad
• Nature of the Threat / Historical Occurrence - Frederick M. Jonas
• Possible Institutional and Financial Arrangements for Active Removal of Orbital Space Debris - Joseph N. Pelton
• Potentially Hazardous Asteroids and Comets - Frederick M. Jonas and Firooz Allahdadi
• Strategies to Prevent Radiological Damage from Debris - Curt Botts
• Part XVI Future of Planetary Defense
• Preface
• Active Orbital Debris Removal and the Sustainability of Space - Joyeeta Chatterjee, Joseph N. Pelton and Firooz Allahdadi
• Directed Energy for Planetary Defense - Philip Lubin and Gary B. Hughes
• Economic Challenges of Financing Planetary Defense - Henry R. Hertzfeld and Pierre-Alain Schieb
• International Cooperation and Collaboration in Planetary Defense Efforts - Joseph N. Pelton
• International Legal Consideration of Cosmic Hazards and Planetary Defense - Fabio Tronchetti
• Major Gaps in International Planetary Defense Systems: Operation and Execution - Michael Potter
• Planetary Defense, Global Cooperation and World Peace - Michael K. Simpson
• Regulatory Aspects Associated with Response to Man-Made Cosmic Hazards - Ram S. Jakhu
• Risk Management and Insurance Industry Perspective on Cosmic Hazards - Scott Ross
• Glossary of Key Terms, Concepts, and Acronyms