Publisher:Pasadena, CA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2018
Citation:SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, San Diego, CA, August 19 - 23, 2018
Abstract:
Large or even medium sized asteroids impacting the Earth can cause damage on a global scale. Existing and planned concepts for finding NEOs of 140 m or larger would take ~15-20 years of observation to find ~90% of them. This includes both ground and space based projects. For smaller NEOs (~50-70 m), the time scale is many decades. The reason it takes so long is because most of the NEOs have highly elliptical orbits that bring them into the inner solar system once per orbit. If they cross Earth's orbit when the Earth is on the other side of the Sun, they will not be detected. A constellation of MicroSats in orbit around the Sun can dramatically reduce the time needed to find 90% of NEOs ~100-140 m in diameter.
