B612 Foundation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The B612 Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to protecting the Earth from asteroid strikes. Their immediate goal is to "significantly alter the orbit of an asteroid in a controlled manner by 2015".

The B612 project grew out of a one-day workshop on asteroid deflection organized by Piet Hut and Ed Lu at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, on October 20, 2001. Participants Rusty Schweickart, Clark Chapman, Piet Hut, and Ed Lu established the B612 Foundation on October 7, 2002.

It is named for the home asteroid of the eponymous hero of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince.

[edit] Financial status

The B612 Foundation is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit, private foundation. Financial contributions to the B612 Foundation are tax exempt. Its principal offices are in Tiburon, CA.

[edit] See also

• Spaceguard
• Asteroid deflection
• 99942 Apophis

[edit] External links

• B612 Foundation
• In Defense of Earth Keeping Asteroids at a Distance
• The Asteroid Tugboat: To prevent an asteroid from hitting Earth, a space tug equipped with plasma engines could give it a push By Russell L. Schweickart (from Scientific American)