Finding Near-earth Objects (NEO) From A Venus-like Orbit: Top-level Tradeoffs Between A 1/2-meter Aperture Thermal Infrared Option And A 1-meter Aperture Visible Option

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We present two approaches for a Near Earth Object (NEO) detection mission, one at visible and one at thermal IR wavelengths. Each option can detect approximately 90% of all NEOs with diameter >=140 m during seven years of operation in a Venus-like orbit. Both concepts utilize hardware based on previous flight missions. Our visible wavelength (450 nm to 900 nm) option has a 1-meter-diameter aperture, operates at room temperature, uses silicon-based CCD detectors, and implements a time-delayed-integration scheme. Our thermal infrared option has a half-meter-diameter aperture, operates in the 6 to 11 micron passband, and uses Hg:Cd:Te detectors actively cooled to about 50K. The infrared telescope itself is actively cooled to about 70K and operates in a step-and-stare observing mode. We show that both systems meet the Congressional mandate for NEO detection for approximately the same mission-level costs. The IR system provides somewhat higher completeness,and has the added benefit of providing a much more accurate estimate of the diameter of all detected NEOs. It therefore allows a good characterization of the threat level (impact energy) for each object.

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