Spaced based infrared detection and characterization of near earth objects Original Research Article

An infrared space-based survey system would be an invaluable adjunct to the ground based visible searches for the discovery of Near Earth Objects (NEOs). It would significantly increase the discovery rate of NEOs and would have unique capabilities to probe their physical character. An infrared NEO survey compensates for the bias of visible searches to preferentially discover high albedo objects and is better at discovering Atens as it can survey the sky at fairly small solar elongation angles. Furthermore, mid-infrared observations have proven to be the most efficient method for determining size. We demonstrate the performance capabilities of a space-based system for an NEO survey and follow-up characterization. The mission objectives are shown to be achieved with infrared and visible focal planes in a half-meter class telescope with diffraction limited performance at 8 μm. A brief review is given of the current technology available to field such as system.