Former Apollo astronaut, Rusty Schweickart, is on the campaign trail today - leading the charge on getting threatening near-Earth objects (NEOs) on the radar screen of space scientists.

Schweickart is at the 37th Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) in Montreal, Canada giving a special luncheon talk today on the asteroid threat to Earth and international decisions that are forthcoming.

Speaking as Chairman of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Committee on Near-Earth Objects, Schweickart is spotlighting several items, such as:

– Presently, about 3,000 NEOs have been identified and are being tracked that are of a size capable of destroying a major city on impact.

– Within the next 10-15 years, the orbits of over 300,000 such objects will be tracked.

– Based on current data, 97 percent of these objects will have NO chance of impact over the next century. However, of the remaining three percent, there are likely to be many that will appear menacing enough to seriously consider deflection.

A key message from Schweickart is that, given adequate early warning, a NEO deflection campaign can be initiated using existing space technology. Furthermore, the international community will shortly be confronted with the decision of whether action should be taken, when it should be taken, and who should take such action.

It’s Schweickart’s view that for those pondering whether or not the threat of NEO impacts is “a real issue” and whether it needs to be dealt with now, the proper answer to both queries is “yes” and “yes.”

To move the NEO impact on Earth issue down the political and global court, ASE and its panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation are wrapping up a two year effort - a decision program for asteroid threat mitigation to be submitted to the United Nations in 2009 labeled: “Asteroid Threats: A Call for Global Response.”