Draft

address (OPEN LETTER)

To the G20 leaders

The Honourable leaders of the intergovernmental association ofthe G20,

One of the most serious natural hazards for the mankind is the threat of catastrophic collisions of asteroids and nuclei of comets with the Earth. This was scientifically proven at the end of the 20th century. Falling of a large celestial body on our planet can immediately destroy humanity or take it back for centuries in its development. Therefore, not only scientific but also many international and national organizations – the UN, PACE, Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and others increasingly address this issue.

As the asteroid-comet hazard (ACH) is a serious risk factor for our civilization, development of preventive measures should become one of the most important tasks that should be solved by mankind in the 21-st century. Since a celestial body fall can occur any time, as it happened 15 February 2013 near Chelyabinsk, the postponement of specific measures for defence from ACH would be unjustifiable. Moreover, unlike most other natural hazards, this danger can be detected in advance and prevented by corresponding actions.

Feasibility of the Planetary Defence System (PDS) establishment is substantiated by the fact that its basic components – launch vehicles and spacecraft, nuclear devices. communication, navigation and control equipment, etc. – have already been created by technologically developed countries. Now we have a unique opportunity to use these resources, some of which were developed for military purposes, not for destruction, but for defence of the whole mankind.

It is clear that the PDS creation and its operation will require resolution of many extraordinary problems – scientific, technical, organisational, political, legal and others. However, there is no doubt that they can be resolved in case of close international cooperation. Furthermore, this will become a strong incentive for technological development of countries involved, and also for strengthening unity of the mankind.

The conceptual project of the International PDS "Citadel" (Appendix 1) can become an option for creation of the PDS. Its Level for short-termreaction can be created in the next 5-7 years. It will fully defence the Earth from asteroid and partially from comet hazard.

For implementation of the project we suggest to generate the International Working group on problem ACH from among experts of G20 and to charge to it preparation of the plan of carrying out of organizational, scientific and technical, political, legal, financial and other actions with a view of creation international PDS, including:

- creation of аtwo Regional Planetary Defence Centres “East” and “West” and to set up its international governing bodies - Coordination and Scientific (Technological) Councils;

- development of international legal terms for regulating issues of the PDS creation and operation;

- creation of special Fund (Insurance Fund of Mankind) in order to finance design, development and operation of the PDS. In the first phase, the Fund can be formed by the G20 countries and then by other states.

The amount of annual payment into the Insurance Fond would equal about 1 billion USD, which equals to a thousand of the amount, which is spent for arming. That is why all the countries could easily cut down on their military budgets by 0,1 percent and devote these released funds not for the destruction, but for the saving of humankind.

This problem of the Earth’s security can be considered as a test for mankind’s ability to solve global problems. So PDS project can become the first global project of mankind in the third millennium that would turn the Earth into an unassailable fortress - Citadel, protecting us from space threats. However, for this purpose we must, first of all, address the main moral issue – the need to recognise our common responsibility for saving the mankind and the Earth's biosphere, as well as cultural, material and other values, created by the labour of billions of people on the Earth throughout millennia.

Please, do not neglect these proposals, because the future of the whole mankind will, it is quite possible, depend on your perception of the problem. All inhabitants of the Earth are passengers of the “Space Titanic”, sailing in a space ocean. At any moment, this ship may collide with a space rock – an asteroid, or a space iceberg – a comet nucleus. But unlike passengers of “Titanic”, in case of a catastrophic collision we will not have a chance to jump off a sinking ship.

Best regards,

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Appendix: 1. “InternationalPlanetaryDefenceSystem “Citadel” (Concept), 25 p.,1 сopy.