Global InformationNEO Surveyor information
 NEO Surveyor spacecraft | |
| Names | Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission Near-Earth Object Camera NEOCam |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Asteroid impact avoidance, astronomy |
| Operator | NASA / JPL |
| Website | https://neos.arizona.edu/ |
| Mission duration | 12 years (planned)[1] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory[1] |
| Launch mass | 1,300 kg (2,900 lb)[1] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | September 2027 (planned)[2] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Heliocentric orbit |
| Regime | Sun–Earth L1 |
| Main telescope | |
| Diameter | 50 cm (20 in) |
| Wavelengths | Infrared (4–5.2 and 6–10 µm) |
NEO Surveyor, formerly called Near-Earth Object Camera (NEOCam), then NEO Surveillance Mission, is a planned space-based infrared telescope designed to survey the Solar System for potentially hazardous asteroids.[3]
The NEO Surveyor spacecraft will survey from the Sun–Earth L1 (inner) Lagrange point, allowing it to see objects inside Earth's orbit, and its mid-infrared detectors sensitive to thermal emission will detect asteroids independently of their illumination by the Sun.[4][5][6] The NEO Surveyor mission will be a successor to the NEOWISE mission, and the two missions have the same principal investigator, Amy Mainzer at the University of Arizona.[7][8]
Since first proposed in 2006, the concept repeatedly competed unsuccessfully for NASA funding against science missions unrelated to planetary defense, despite an unfunded 2005 US Congressional directive to NASA.[1][7] In 2019, the Planetary Defense Coordination Office decided to fund this mission outside NASA's science budget due to its national security implications.[9][10] On 11 June 2021, NASA authorized the NEO Surveyor mission to proceed to the preliminary design phase.[11] The Jet Propulsion Laboratory will lead development of the mission.[1]
As of December 2022, NEO Surveyor is expected to be launched no later than June 2028.[12] As of October 2023 the launch is planned for September 2027.[2]
- ^ a b c d e "NASA to develop mission to search for near-Earth asteroids". SpaceNews. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Finding Asteroids Before They Find Us NEOCam Home site at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Caltech
- ^ Smith, Marcia (19 January 2020). "NASA's New NEO Mission Will Substantially Reduce Time to Find Hazardous Asteroids". Space Policy Online. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "NEOCam - Orbit". NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Mainzer, Amy K. (September 2006). "NEOCam: The Near-Earth Object Camera". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 38 (3): 568. Bibcode:2006DPS....38.4509M.
- ^ a b NASA Announces New Mission To Search for Asteroids Marcia Smith, Space Policy Online 23 September 2019
- ^ "Amy Mainzer: NEOWISE Principal Investigator". NASA / JPL. 25 August 2003. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2013. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Millions of Small Asteroids That Could Threaten Our World Remain Uncatalogued Lee Billings, Scientific American 1 January 2016
- ^ Updated: NASA taps missions to tiny metal world and Jupiter Trojans Paul Voosen, Science. 4 January 2017
- ^ Talbert, Tricia (11 June 2021). "NASA Approves Asteroid Hunting Space Telescope to Continue Development". NASA. Retrieved 11 June 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (7 December 2022). "NASA confirms NEO Surveyor for 2028 launch". SpaceNews. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
