NASA concluded a contract with SpaceX to launch space telescope Neo Surveyor, designed to search for the Earth objects (NEO).
Contract and launch details
- Contract value: about $100 million
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Cosmodrome: Florida
- Planned launch date: No earlier than September 2027 year
- Mission orbit: Point of work NEO Surveyor Lagrange camp L1 (1,5 million km from the Earth in the direction of the Sun)
The contract was signed 21 February, a few weeks after that, how 6 In February, the mission underwent a critical design review, which made it possible to proceed to the next stages assembly and testing.
What is NEO Surveyor and why is it needed??
This space telescope is equipped with a 50 cm mirror and infrared detectors, which will allow him: detect dangerous asteroids and comets
and estimate their orbit and size.
The main objective of the mission is during 5 years to find 2/3 asteroids with a diameter of 140 meters. In 10-12 years, NASA plans to identify 90% such objects, which is a requirement of the US Congress.
Current stage of development
Now some parts of the telescope are undergoing testing:
- Thermal screen and other modules are in the Johnson Center (Johnson Space Center).
- In the spring 2024 year all the main components will go to Space Dynamics Lab in Utah, where apparatus integration and additional testing will be completed.
Why is this mission important??
Recent events have emphasized the need for enhanced monitoring of near-Earth objects.
In December 2023 an asteroid was discovered 2024 The, size from 40 to 90 meters. First, the chances of its collision with the Earth in December 2032 of the year were evaluated as 3,1% (on 18 February 2024 year).
After new observations, the risk has decreased significantly, and as of 21 in February, the chance of a hit was estimated only in 0,36%.
NEO Surveyor will help NASA detect such dangerous objects in time and assess threats to Earth even before that, as they become critical.
Source: https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-spacex-to-launch-neo-surveyor/