(NASA/JPL-Caltech https://bit.ly/3Ffier0)
NASA has authorized the construction of the NEO Surveyor infrared space telescope and scheduled its launch into space in the summer of 2028.
The telescope will be able to detect and study more than 90% of asteroids and comets potentially dangerous for the Earth with a diameter of more than 140 meters.
The NEO Surveyor project was first proposed in 2006, but despite a number of attempts to win funding for the project, it received little support to build some of the technologies.
Then, in 2019 the project was approved when it became clear that some asteroids, such as 2019 OK, were being detected just hours before a dangerous approach to Earth.
The current surveillance tools were clearly insufficient.
THE MISSION
The objective of the NEO Surveyor will be to detect, track and determine the properties of at least two-thirds of asteroids and comets potentially hazardous to the Earth, with an effective diameter of more than 140 meters in the 5 years of the main scientific program.
Then, the telescope will aim to detect more than 90% of the total number of such bodies in 10-12 years of operation.
The telescope will also be able to detect asteroids up to 45 degrees from the Sun.
Last year, NASA allowed the preliminary design of the telescope to begin, and on December 6 of this year, completed a technical and program review of the project and approved its construction.
The telescope will have a base cost of $1.2 billion and be launched into space no later than June 2028.
The NEO Surveyor will operate in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange point in the Sun-Earth system.
Sources:
- NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/neosurveyor/2022/12/06/nasas-neo-surveyor-successfully-passes-key-milestone/
- Space News: https://spacenews.com/nasa-confirms-neo-surveyor-for-2028-launch/
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