a novel space telescopes which was specially designed for detect the hardest to find asteroids and comets that deviate towards the orbital neighborhood of the LandIt is already in its final stage of construction, as revealed by the POTthrough its official website.
Its about Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEO Surveyor), which has just successfully passed a rigorous technical and programmatic review, and which is currently in the final stage of design and manufacturing, waiting to be released mid 2018 to become the first space mission built specifically for find large amounts of dangerous asteroids and comets.
“NEO Surveyor represents Next Generation NASA’s ability to rapidly detect, track, and characterize potentially hazardous near-Earth objects,” he said. Lindley Johnson, NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office officer.
“Ground-based telescopes are still essential for us to continuously observe the skies, but a infrared observatory space-based is the latest high ground that will allow the strategy of defending planetary from NASA”, added the specialist.
Manufactured at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that the North American space agency has in the south of CaliforniaNEO Surveyor consists of a single scientific instrument: a 50 cm diameter telescope which operates in two lengths of infrared waves They are sensitive to heat and will be able to detect both bright and dark asteroids, which are the hardest to find.
Through the use of sensors that operate in the infrared, NEO Surveyor will be able to perform perceived accurate NEO sizes and you will get valuable information about its composition, shapes, states of rotation and orbits. The telescope will also help planetary scientists to Discover NEO faster.
“By searching for NEO closer to the direction of the Sun, NEO Surveyor will help astronomers to discover the impact hazards that could approach Earth from the sky during the dayMainzer said.
further, will travel near 1,609,344 kilometersto a region of gravitational stability, called L1 Lagrance pointwhich is located between the Earth and the Sun, where the spacecraft will orbit during its main mission that will last for 5 years.
“For the first time in the history of our planet, Earth’s inhabitants are developing methods to protect Earth by deflecting dangerous asteroids.” story Amy Mainzer, director of mission research at the University of Arizona in Tucson, United States.
“But, before we can divert them, We must first find them. NEO Surveyor will be a game changer in that effort.”, added the scientist.
Finally, the mission will also help characterize the composition, shape, rotation, and orbit of near-Earth objects. “While the primary focus of the mission is the planetary defensethis information can be used to better understand the origins and evolution of the asteroids and comets that formed the ancient building blocks of our solar system”Mainzer conclusion.
