Space
Canada Starts Near-Earth Space Surveillance With Mini Space Telescope
Mark Hoffman
First Posted: Feb 26, 2013 11:09 PM EST
The successful launch of the Indian Polar Space Launch Vehicle (PSLV) today also marks the beginning of a Canadian asteroid monitoring mission. Four nano-satellites, either owned by or developed in Canada, accompanied the larger satellite launched from India and among them was the small space telescope called Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat).
It will be the first space telescope dedicated fully to only search for Near-Earth Objects in the inner solar system, and will be the principal instrument of the Near Earth Surveillance System (NESS) operating it. It's advantage is that unlike ground-based telescopes, it can operate 24/7 and won't be limited by the day-night cycle. It will capture hundreds of images per day for analysis by researchers on a team including Alan Hildebrand at the University of Calgary.
They will use NEOSSat to discover new near-Earth asteroids by searching the sky along the ecliptic plane as close to the Sun as its microsatellite custom baffle design allows (to within 45° of the Sun). This search will focus on two groups of asteroids; one called Atens (asteroids with orbits mostly within the Earth`s (although they cross Earth’s orbit at their farthest points from the Sun) and, in particular, Atiras (asteroids whose entire orbit is within Earth’s).
NEOSSat was launched into orbit 800 kilometers above the Earth on the PSLV-C20 launcher, which is powered by four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately--with the first stage one of the largest solid boosters in the world carrying 139 tonnes of propellant.
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First Posted: Feb 26, 2013 11:09 PM EST
The successful launch of the Indian Polar Space Launch Vehicle (PSLV) today also marks the beginning of a Canadian asteroid monitoring mission. Four nano-satellites, either owned by or developed in Canada, accompanied the larger satellite launched from India and among them was the small space telescope called Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat).
They will use NEOSSat to discover new near-Earth asteroids by searching the sky along the ecliptic plane as close to the Sun as its microsatellite custom baffle design allows (to within 45° of the Sun). This search will focus on two groups of asteroids; one called Atens (asteroids with orbits mostly within the Earth`s (although they cross Earth’s orbit at their farthest points from the Sun) and, in particular, Atiras (asteroids whose entire orbit is within Earth’s).
NEOSSat was launched into orbit 800 kilometers above the Earth on the PSLV-C20 launcher, which is powered by four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately--with the first stage one of the largest solid boosters in the world carrying 139 tonnes of propellant.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone