NEA Scout

NEA Scout

Subject: Science and Technology

Context:  NASA announced that its new spacecraft, named NEA Scout, has completed all required tests and has been safely tucked inside the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. NEA Scout is one of several payloads that will hitch a ride on Artemis I, which is expected to be launched in November.

Concept:

Artemis I will be an unscrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket. Under the Artemis programme, NASA has aimed to land the first woman on the Moon in 2024 and also establish sustainable lunar exploration programs by 2030.

NEA Scout

• Near-Earth Asteroid Scout( or NEA Scout) is a small spacecraft, about the size of a big shoebox. Its main mission is to fly by and collect data from a near-Earth asteroid. It will also be America’s first interplanetary mission using a special solar sail propulsion.
• NEA Scout will use stainless steel alloy booms and deploy an aluminium-coated sail measuring 925 square feet.
• The spacecraft will take about two years to cruise to the asteroid and will be about 93 million miles away from Earth during the asteroid encounter.
• NEA Scout is equipped with special cameras and can take pictures ranging from 50 cm/pixels to 10 cm/pixels
• The images gathered by NEA Scout will provide critical information on the asteroid’s physical properties such as orbit, shape, volume, rotation, the dust and debris field surrounding it, plus its surface properties

Need to study the asteroid

• Understanding their properties could help us develop strategies for reducing the potential damage caused in the event of an impact
• data to determine what is required to reduce risk, increase effectiveness, and improve the design and operations of robotic and human space exploration,