“NEO Rapid Observation, Characterization and Key Simulations project”: the EU funded NEOROCKS project

Introduction:  NEOROCKS is an EU project funded in the framework of the H2020 programme. The aim of NEOROCKS is to improve our knowledge of the physical properties of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) in order to understand their nature and the potential hazard they pose to human beings. A special attention is given to the timely detection and characterization of small potential imminent impactors of the Earth, which are likely to represent the next real threat.

The project: 

The knowledge of the physical properties of a NEO has strong implications for both science and impact mitigation. To date, only 20% of the known NEO population has been characterized, 30% considering only objects larger than 1 km. NEOROCKS proposes an innovative approach to the study of NEOs, taking into consideration the incoming operation of the next generation sky surveys (encompassing wide-field high-sensitivity telescopes) which will dramatically change the NEO discovery scenario. 

The NEOROCKS innovative approach is focused on:

a) performing high-quality physical observations and related data reduction processes; 

b) investigating the strong relationship between the orbit determination of newly discovered objects and the quick execution of follow-up observations in order to face the threat posed by the "imminent impactors"; 

c) profiting of the European industrial expertise in on-going Space Situational Awareness initiatives to plan and execute breakthrough experiments foreseeing the remote tasking of highly automatized robotic telescopes, in order to provide a proof-of-concept rapid-response system; 

d) guarantee extremely high standards in the data dissemination through the development of a highly sophisticated data model and the involvement at agency level of a data center facility already operating in a European and international context. 

NEOROCKS introduces novel methods for orbit determination and for the prioritization of follow-up observations, for future operational NEO hazard monitoring systems. Speeding up the process from discovery to physical follow-up, will be fundamental in the next future for addressing the "imminent impactors" threat, since small objects in route of collision with the Earth are likely to be routinely discovered by the new generation NEO sky surveys. A real-time telescope tasking experiment has been also performed in the framework of NEOROCKS, as a test case scenario with the potential to scale up to a global level. 

International scenario: The NEOROCKS team includes Universities, research centers, the Italian Space Sgency and industrial partnerships actively participating to the European projects devoted to Space Situational Awareness.. The goal of this activity is to probe the engagement of European and international partners in a proactive contribution to the detection of NEO potential threats, as well as to the planning and implementation of effective mitigation measures in a highly synergic and complementary scenario.

Moreover, NEOROCKS sets up necessary infrastructure to store, maintain and disseminate data produced and tools developed, well beyond the nominal lifetime of the project, thus granting the continuation of its approach and the update of its results. This is achieved through partnership with the ASI Space Science Data Centre (SSDC https://www.ssdc.asi.it/), which is equipped with necessary HW/SW environment. NEOROCKS has the potential to perpetuate the developed approach and the obtained results, through the in-kind contribution of the ASI-SSDC in hosting the project products.

The possibility of profiting from a well-established facility devoted to science data exploitation after the project is finished ensures a high-level dissemination toward the scientific and technological communities involved in NEO research as well as to the public at large.

Ackowledgement: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870403.