§ Mr. ÖpikTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what plans she has to increase the funding, over the next four years, to agencies which examine near earth objects; and if he will make a statement; [38954]
(2) what is the total Government provided funding for research into near earth objects in 1998–99; and if he will make a statement. [38953]
§ Mr. BattleIn this financial year, the DTI will spend some £50,000 on relevant activity including our contribution to a European Space Agency (ESA) study into improved monitoring of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) from space. In addition, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) will spend £1.6 million this financial year on instruments for the ESA Rosetta mission. This will land a probe on the comet Wirtanen in 2011 and analyse the internal structure of the comet. Results from this mission are expected to inform work on monitoring and other aspects of the subject.
The Government have no immediate plans for additional activity. Applications to support scientific studies of asteroids may be made to PPARC and will be assessed against other space science priorities.