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Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite
The Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat) is a Canadian microsatellite using a 15-cm aperture f/5.88 Maksutov telescope (similar to that on the MOST spacecraft), with 3-axis stabilisation giving a pointing stability of ~2 arcseconds in a ~100 second exposure. It is funded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), and searches for interior-to-Earth-orbit (IEO) asteroids, at between 45 and 55 degree solar elongation and +40 to -40 degrees ecliptic latitude.
NEOSSat is a suitcase-sized microsatellite measuring 137 × 78 × 38 centimetres (54 × 31 × 15 in), including telescope baffle, and weighing 74 kilograms (163 lb). It is powered by gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells placed on all six sides of its frame; the entire spacecraft uses around 80 watts of power, with the bus core systems consuming an average of 45 watts. The spacecraft uses miniature reaction wheels for stabilization and attitude control, and magnetic torque rods to dump excess momentum by pushing against Earth's magnetic field, so no on-board fuel is required for operation.
NEOSSat is a descendant of Canada's earlier MOST satellite. It was built on the Multi-Mission Microsatellite Bus, which was created using data from the development of MOST. Its science payload includes a telescope of the same design as that on MOST, and uses spare CCD detectors from the MOST mission.
The sole instrument is a 15-centimetre (5.9 in) Rumak-Maksutov telescope with a 0.86 degree field of view and a f/5.88 focal ratio. Incoming light is split and focused on two passively cooled 1024×1024 pixel CCDs, one used by the NESS and HEOSS projects and the other by the spacecraft's star tracker. Since the telescope is aimed relatively close to the Sun, it contains a baffle to shield its detectors from intense sunlight. The science camera takes 100-second-long exposures, allowing it to detect celestial objects down to magnitude 20. NEOSSat's attitude control allows it to maintain pointing stability of less than one arcsecond during the entire 100 second exposure period. It takes up to 288 images per day, downloading multiple images to its Canadian ground station with each pass.
NEOSSat was originally scheduled for launch in 2007, but delays set it back until 2013. Alongside another Canadian spacecraft, Sapphire (a military surveillance satellite), and five other satellites, NEOSSat launched on February 25, 2013, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, at 12:31 UTC aboard an Indian PSLV-C20 rocket.
The NEOSSat satellite carries out three missions.
The spacecraft is a demonstrator of the utility of the Multi-Mission Microsatellite Bus (MMMB) as part of the CSA's efforts to develop an affordable multi-mission bus.
Near Earth Space Surveillance (NESS), led by Principal Investigator Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary, uses NEOSSat to search for and track near-Earth asteroids inside Earth's orbit around the Sun, including asteroids in the Aten and Atira classes. These asteroids are particularly difficult to detect from the surface of the Earth, as they are usually positioned in the daylit or twilit sky, when background light from the Sun makes such faint objects invisible. This form of stray light is not an issue for a telescope in orbit, making even a small-aperture telescope such as that on NEOSSat capable of detecting faint asteroids. The NESS science team expects to be able to detect many such asteroids as faint as visual magnitude 19. The NESS mission is funded by the CSA.
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Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite AI simulator
(@Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite_simulator)
Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite
The Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat) is a Canadian microsatellite using a 15-cm aperture f/5.88 Maksutov telescope (similar to that on the MOST spacecraft), with 3-axis stabilisation giving a pointing stability of ~2 arcseconds in a ~100 second exposure. It is funded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), and searches for interior-to-Earth-orbit (IEO) asteroids, at between 45 and 55 degree solar elongation and +40 to -40 degrees ecliptic latitude.
NEOSSat is a suitcase-sized microsatellite measuring 137 × 78 × 38 centimetres (54 × 31 × 15 in), including telescope baffle, and weighing 74 kilograms (163 lb). It is powered by gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells placed on all six sides of its frame; the entire spacecraft uses around 80 watts of power, with the bus core systems consuming an average of 45 watts. The spacecraft uses miniature reaction wheels for stabilization and attitude control, and magnetic torque rods to dump excess momentum by pushing against Earth's magnetic field, so no on-board fuel is required for operation.
NEOSSat is a descendant of Canada's earlier MOST satellite. It was built on the Multi-Mission Microsatellite Bus, which was created using data from the development of MOST. Its science payload includes a telescope of the same design as that on MOST, and uses spare CCD detectors from the MOST mission.
The sole instrument is a 15-centimetre (5.9 in) Rumak-Maksutov telescope with a 0.86 degree field of view and a f/5.88 focal ratio. Incoming light is split and focused on two passively cooled 1024×1024 pixel CCDs, one used by the NESS and HEOSS projects and the other by the spacecraft's star tracker. Since the telescope is aimed relatively close to the Sun, it contains a baffle to shield its detectors from intense sunlight. The science camera takes 100-second-long exposures, allowing it to detect celestial objects down to magnitude 20. NEOSSat's attitude control allows it to maintain pointing stability of less than one arcsecond during the entire 100 second exposure period. It takes up to 288 images per day, downloading multiple images to its Canadian ground station with each pass.
NEOSSat was originally scheduled for launch in 2007, but delays set it back until 2013. Alongside another Canadian spacecraft, Sapphire (a military surveillance satellite), and five other satellites, NEOSSat launched on February 25, 2013, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, at 12:31 UTC aboard an Indian PSLV-C20 rocket.
The NEOSSat satellite carries out three missions.
The spacecraft is a demonstrator of the utility of the Multi-Mission Microsatellite Bus (MMMB) as part of the CSA's efforts to develop an affordable multi-mission bus.
Near Earth Space Surveillance (NESS), led by Principal Investigator Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary, uses NEOSSat to search for and track near-Earth asteroids inside Earth's orbit around the Sun, including asteroids in the Aten and Atira classes. These asteroids are particularly difficult to detect from the surface of the Earth, as they are usually positioned in the daylit or twilit sky, when background light from the Sun makes such faint objects invisible. This form of stray light is not an issue for a telescope in orbit, making even a small-aperture telescope such as that on NEOSSat capable of detecting faint asteroids. The NESS science team expects to be able to detect many such asteroids as faint as visual magnitude 19. The NESS mission is funded by the CSA.