The NEO Primer: A Tool For Collaboration, Communication, and Outreach
Weeden, B.; Williamson, R.
Secure World Foundation

During the Manhattan Project, new scientists arriving at Los Alamos were given a book which summarized the research and basic physics behind the project. This book, which became known as the Los Alamos Primer, was based on a series of ground-breaking lectures by Robert Seber, helped bring the new arrivals up to speed so that they could contribute more easily and fully.

The field of Near Earth Object (NEO) detection and mitigation is undergoing a transition as it evolves and grows. This transition is bringing experts from non-traditional disciplines into the fold and a means of bringing them up to speed on the basic math and physics, and legal and policy aspects is needed. Therefore, the authors propose that the NEO community compile a Primer of their own. The initial goal of this NEO Primer would be to convey concisely to the lay person the celestial mechanics and astrodynamics of NEOs, fundamentals behind their detection and characterization, and the basic physics behind mitigation techniques. As additional disciplines such as law and public policy are integrated into the NEO community, their fundamental elements which apply to the NEO problem will be added.

This paper presents a draft outline and plan for development of the NEO Primer, organized by the Secure World Foundation, with assistance from the experts within the NEO community on their respective topics. The Primer will be published under a Creative Commons license, enabling its publication and redistribution for free across multiple formats and technologies. Additional consideration will be given to developing versions of the Primer for different educational levels, to be used as public outreach and educational tools.