Astrophysics (Index)About

NEO Surveyor

(Near-Earth Object Surveyor, NEOSM, Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission, NEOCam, Near-Earth Object Camera)
(planned space observatory to detect and monitor NEOs)

NEO Surveyor (for Near-Earth Object Surveyor, earlier known as NEOCam for Near-Earth Object Camera and NEOSM, for Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission) is a mission plan for a NASA 50 cm infrared space telescope with a wide field of view orbiting the L1 Lagrangian point with the aim of detecting and monitoring near-Earth objects (NEOs). The plan aims at a 2026 launch and a mission of 12+ years. Infrared brightness is a better indication of the object's size: more of the object's infrared is due to its own emission, whereas much of the visible light is the reflection of Sun-light, which is substantially affected by the object's albedo. Visible light follow-ups can be done from the ground, the two measurements together yielding a determination of the object's albedo, a clue to its makeup and mass. The mission is much like NEOWISE, which is a secondary function and reuse of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), but will take advantage of newer technology that also is designed for the purpose.


(telescope,reflector,spacecraft,NASA,infrared,L1,plan)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEO_Surveyor
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/near-earth-object-surveyor
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020DPS....5220802S/abstract
https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/project/neo-surveyor
https://neos.arizona.edu/
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/
https://lasp.colorado.edu/missions/neo-surveyor/
https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.12918

Referenced by page:
Lagrangian point

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