Photo credit: www.nasa.gov

NASA’s NEO Surveyor Instrument Enclosure Undergoes Critical Testing

The instrument enclosure for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor is currently undergoing essential environmental testing within the iconic Chamber A at the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory, located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. This vital phase kicked off in December 2024, with the 12-foot-long (3.7-meter-long) enclosure, designed with silver thermal blanketing, being subjected to the harsh, airless conditions representative of deep space.

Chamber A has a rich history, having previously been used for testing Apollo spacecraft during the Moon missions of the 1960s and 1970s. The chamber’s ability to simulate extreme environments makes it an ideal location for assessing the resilience of the NEO Surveyor’s technology.

The primary function of the instrument enclosure is to safeguard the spacecraft’s infrared telescope while concurrently managing thermal conditions during its operation. Upon concluding the environmental assessments, the enclosure will return to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California for additional modifications before being sent to the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) in Logan, Utah. It is at SDL that the enclosure will be integrated with the telescope, both of which were constructed at JPL.

Nominated as NASA’s inaugural space-based mission tailored specifically for planetary defense, the NEO Surveyor initiative aims to identify, evaluate, and characterize the most elusive asteroids and comets that could potentially threaten Earth. Unlike many near-Earth objects that may be difficult to detect due to their low visibility in standard light, they emit significant infrared signals because of the solar heat they absorb. The spacecraft’s telescope, boasting an aperture of nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters), is equipped with detectors that are attuned to two specific infrared wavelengths, enabling efficient detection of the thermal radiation emitted by these celestial bodies.

To learn more about the NEO Surveyor mission and its objectives, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/

Image credit: NASA

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www.nasa.gov