astronomy

Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite

Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite rather than just read about it. In short: 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)…

Key takeaways

Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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.

Spacecraft 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.

Launch 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.

Missions 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. High Earth Orbit Space Surveillance (HEOSS), led by Principal Investigator Brad Wallace of DRDC, uses NEOSSat to conduct experimental satellite tracking activities. It focuses principally on satellites in the 15,000 to 40,000 km (9,300 to 24,900 mi) range, such as geostationary communications satellites, which are difficult to track via ground-based radar. These experiments include submitting tracking data to the Space Surveillance Network, as part of Canada's role in NORAD. The HEOSS activities support planning for follow-on missions to the Canadian Department of National Defence's operational satellite-tracking satellite, Sapphire, which was launched with NEOSSat. The HEOSS mission is funded by DRDC.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite

In research: Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Near-Earth object tracking, Optical telescopes, Satellites orbiting Earth, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite in simple terms?

Why does Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite.