Ron,
My inquiry to you today is concerning grant
programs that can be established through Nasa for the detection of
NEOs.
I have been professionally employed as a Software
Engineer for almost 20 years. Many of my recent projects have dealt
specifically with advanced 3D graphics. I
have recently been in charge of a complex data management system that
organizes and versions large quantities of 3D data. We call this system
MOG. Despite the popularity of acronyms at Nasa, I regret to inform you
that MOG is not an acronym...it's name is derived from 'transMOGrifier'
from Calvin and Hobbs. MOG processes incoming data and then catalogs and
versions it within it's archives. MOG uses resource distribution so
that the work load of data processing can be distributed to different
computers. MOG was built to assist the workflow of large scale projects
that require massive quantities of complex preprocessed 3D data. While I
was wrapping up several lingering issues with this system, it dawned on me that
a similar system could greatly enhance the ability to detect NEOs.
After spending a great deal of time investigating
various aspect of commercially sold telescopes and investigating the CCD
technology available for those scopes, I feel that it is very feasible to
develop a web based database that would enable amateur astronomers to be able to
contribute to NEO detection on a scale never before devised.
Using a similar system to MOG, CCD images along
with the sky coordinates could be submitted by amateur astronomers world
wide via the web. Each submitted image would first be scrutinized to make
sure that it matched the coordinates by comparing it's layout to a master image
of the same sky coordinates. Once the image has been verified to be
accurate, the system would then search for possible NEOs within each submitted
image. When the system detects a possible NEO, it would attempt to match
it's movement and trajectory by comparing it to other submitted images.
Using the resource distribution features, we would be able to distribute this
work load to computers all over the world.
Eventually, I would like to see fully automated
client side software developed. This software could in real-time get new
coordinates from the web, align the telescope, capture a CCD image and then
submit that image back to through the web. With the right client-side
software, amateur astronomers could leave their computers and scopes running for
hours at a time or even all night long. By having the system assign
desired sky coordinates, it wouldn't take that many participants before the
entire sky could be covered.
It would be important to have something in place to
be able to award proper credit to each amateur astronomer for their images that
are used in locating actual NEOs. With the proper recognition, I
could see participation in this program becoming a very prestigious
thing.
With my many years of experience in 3D application
design and data management, I have the background necessary to see such a
project through to completion. I am also surrounded by many other very
talented colleagues with similar backgrounds. If there is any
interest from Nasa to develop such a system, I would like the opportunity to
present a proposed budget for establishing a qualified team for it's
development.
Although this software has certain marketable
potential, I would much rather see this developed with grant money and offered
freely to the amateur astronomer community.
I look forward to your reply,
John Renstrom