Purpose of the Workshop:
The main objectives of the Workshop are to learn what we know now and what and how we can learn more about the physical and chemical properties of potential earth impactors; namely, asteroids and comets, with the ultimate aim of providing the best possible data for mitigation procedures. A major concern to the world is the potential devastation produced by impacts of cosmic objects from space. For this reason we consider as a subtitle for the school: 'KNOW YOUR ENEMY'. The lectures will be devoted to consideration of all possible means – from theoretical to experimental to remote observational to space observational, and space in situ measurements – for obtaining the internal structure and composition of asteroids and comets. The course will include a series of workshops that will summarize and supplement the lectures and provide suggestions for further studies in the application of all techniques that can be used to provide a database on cosmic object properties. A significant consequence of the course will be its application to knowledge of the formation of the Solar System. This course, as was the case for all the previous courses in the Space Chemistry School, is highly interdisciplinary, bringing together experts with a wide variety of chemical, physical, and technical backgrounds in theory, laboratory astrophysics, ground-based observations, and space-based observations as well as applications.

Sponsored by the:
European Space Agency (ESA)
Italian Ministry of University, Scientific Research and Technology
Italian Space Agency (ASI)
USA National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Japan Institute for Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
Sicilian Regional Government

Programme:
The threat
Mitigation techniques
NEO parent bodies
NEO sizes, albedos, compositions
NEAR
MUSES-C
Space missions to comets
Comet nuclei (Deep Impact)
IR from space: from past to future
Asteroid thermal models
Asteroids: surface structure
Asteroid internal structure
Comet nuclei
Radio tomography
Seismic wave propagation
Comet thermal structure
Comet nucleus evolution
Asteroid structure and spin rates
Meteorite experiments
Laboratory experiments for comets
From grains to asteroids
Links between comets and asteroids
Interstellar dust and meteorites

Lecturers:
M. A'Hearn, University of Maryland, MD, USA
J. Benkhoff, DLR Berlin, D
A. Cellino, Observatory of Torino, I
A. F. Cheng, JHAPL, USA
M. DELBO', DLR Berlin, D
J. M. Greenberg, University of Leiden, NL
W. F. Huebner, SWRI, San Antonio, TX, USA
H. U. Keller, MPI Lindau, D
W. Kofman, Observatory of Grenoble, F
A. Kouchi, Hokkaido University, J
D. Morrison, NASA, CA USA
T. Mukai, Kobe University, J
P. Paolicchi, University of Pisa, I
S. Price, Lincoln Laboratory, USA
J. Remo, Harvard University, Cambridge, CA, USA
G. Schwehm, ESTEC, NL
S. Sirono, Nagoya University, J
D. J. Tholen, University of Hawaii, USA
J. Walker, SWRI, San Antonio, TX, USA
T. Yamamoto, Nagoya University, J
H. Yano, ISAS, J
A. Zaitsev, Lavochkin Association, RU
V. Zappala, Observatory of Torino, I