{"id":760358,"date":"2026-06-25T14:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/760358\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:32:10","slug":"planetary-defense-proposal-untold-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/760358\/","title":{"rendered":"Planetary Defense Proposal: Untold Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.
Image credit: B612 Foundation\/Danica Remy<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s winning proposal for the Schweickart Prize is \u201cUntold Threats: A Worldwide Call to Defend New Frontiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart is the namesake of the Schweickart Prize and is a program of the B612 Foundation.<\/p>\n

The winning proposal addresses a growing challenge for the future of space exploration: protecting satellites, lunar operations, and other space-based assets from natural hazards such as meteoroid activity and impact-generated debris.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the proposal outlines a framework for international collaboration to better understand these risks and strengthen the resilience of critical space infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image credit: B612 Foundation<\/p>\n

Planetary defense<\/p>\n

The 2026 Schweickart Prize has been awarded to Brian Murphy and Richard Cannon of the University of Edinburgh. Their proposal spotlights the importance of planetary defense beyond Earth, and the role of global cooperation in safeguarding humanity\u2019s future in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs human activity and vital interests rapidly expand into regions beyond the protective shield of our atmosphere,\u201d Schweickart said, \u201cthe number of passing objects capable of causing serious damage to both life and critical infrastructure increases dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Image credit: Brian Murphy\/Richard E. Cannon, University of Edinburgh, Institute for Astronomy and School of Physics and Astronomy; Royal Observatory of Edinburgh<\/p>\n

WARDEN: coordinating body<\/p>\n

The proposal calls for establishing an International Commission on Space Infrastructure Resilience (ICSIR) to investigate these risks and develop recommendations for the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the proposal authors envision creating a permanent international coordinating body, termed WARDEN (Warning-network for Asset Resilience from Dusts, Ejecta, and NEOs), to complement existing planetary defense organizations and coordinate the protection of humanity\u2019s assets beyond Earth.<\/p>\n

The winning proposal was unveiled via a June 23 online event that can be viewed at:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d_gTOStKQbQ<\/a><\/p>\n

To review the proposal \u2013 \u201cUntold Threats: A Worldwide Call to Defend New Frontiers\u201d \u2014 go to:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1xSKUNAOABuRsg2p4mUXt9T-8mUlMYvXh\/view<\/a><\/p>\n

The official presentation of the physical museum-quality prize and the $10,000 award will take place at a public ceremony at Lowell Observatory on June 27, coinciding with Asteroid Day Arizona activities.<\/p>\n

For details on Asteroid Day Arizona activities, go to:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/lowell.edu\/event\/northern-arizona-asteroid-day-2026\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Imge credit:
Lowell Observatory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.Image credit: B612 Foundation\/Danica Remy This year\u2019s winning proposal for the Schweickart Prize is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-760358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}