NASA might soon start building a new telescope that will be able to detect asteroids and comets that could be a potential threat to Earth. The space telescope dubbed the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, or NEO Surveyor is a part of NASA’s growing interest in planetary defense.
The initiative aims to discover objects that could come in close proximity to Earth and pose a threat. Asteroids and comets that reach within 30 million miles are called near-Earth objects or NEOs.
“We think there are about 25,000 NEOs large enough to wipe out an area like Southern California,” said Amy Mainzer, project leader. “Once they get bigger than about 450 feet in diameter, they can cause severe regional damage. We want to find these, and as many smaller ones as possible.”
Better than other telescopes
The NEO Surveyor will come equipped with heat-sensitive cameras that can record more sensitive readings compared to the ones taken from telescopes on Earth. By examining the infrared data, the space telescope would detect objects, calculate their size, and track their orbit.
“Earth-approaching asteroids and comets are warmed by the sun, and they give off heat that the NEO Surveyor mission will be able to pick up,” Mainzer said. “Even asteroids as dark as a chunk of coal won’t be able to hide from our infrared eyes.”
The space agency has approved the NEO Surveyor for the next phase of development. Now, details of the telescope’s design and hardware will be figured out. If things go as planned, the telescope might be launched in the first half of 2026.
Telescope will be a savior
The new space telescope will be able to protect our planet within its first decade in space, notes Michael Kelley, NEO Surveyor program scientist at NASA headquarters.
“NEO Surveyor will have the capability to rapidly accelerate the rate at which NASA is able to discover asteroids and comets that could pose a hazard to the Earth, and it is being designed to discover 90 percent of asteroids 140 meters in size or larger within a decade of being launched,” Kelley said.
