After passing a critical test recently, NASA’s Near Earth Object (NEO) Investigator – an infrared telescope that will search for potentially dangerous asteroids – has entered the construction phase.

NEO Researcher It is the successor to the space agency’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, which discovers thousands of near-Earth objects and classifies them as follows. asteroids or comets. When NEO Surveyor launches, it will be the first mission to conduct multiple near-Earth searches simultaneously. asteroids. Some equipment and instruments are currently being built so that the telescope can eventually detect even weak asteroids.

“The NEO Surveyor represents the next generation of NASA’s ability to rapidly detect, track and characterize potentially dangerous objects near Earth,” said Lindley Johnson, planetary protection officer at the Office of the Coordination of Planetary Defense. NASA.

NEO Surveyor’s most important tools currently in development are ultra-sensitive infrared detectors that find distant asteroids that reflect infrared light. earth atmosphere It blocks too much infrared light for telescopes on the ground to observe such objects. NEO Surveyor will have the advantage of being above the atmosphere by orbiting in space, and the sun shield will block sunlight, allowing the telescope to see objects coming from the atmosphere. Sun. The detectors will also be able to discern the shapes, composition and spin of asteroids.

NEO Surveyor’s coolers and racks are also made to protect infrared detectors, which must be cooler than the spacecraft’s electronics. The new emitters can be passively cooled, unlike previous emitters, which had to be constantly active, and remain just as effective at preventing instruments from overheating. The racks are made of material that conducts heat poorly so they can separate the detectors from the rest of the spacecraft. This is very important because the sunshade will be particularly hot and block the sunlight.

In addition, NEO Surveyor’s beam splitters (dividing light beams into transmitted and reflected beams), housing, electronics, and a solid aluminum mirror are under development.

NEO Researcher It is the next step in detecting asteroids that could collide with our planet. NASA test binary asteroid redirection (DART) Proven an approaching asteroid may be slightly shaken from its orbit, but first the mission leadership needs to know this. Here’s how NEO Surveyor and its successors can literally save the Earth fate of dinosaurs in the future. NEO Surveyor is scheduled to be released in June 2028.