Near Earth Objects Overview of the NEO Observation Program Lindley Johnson Planetary Science Division NASA HQ 21 June 2012

US component to International Spaceguard Survey effort Has provided 99% of new detections of NEOs since 1998 Began with NASA commitment to House Committee on Science in May, 1998 –Averaged ~$4M/year Research funding –400% plus-up to $20M in President’s 2012 budget submittal Scientific Objective: Discover 90% of NEOs larger than 1 kilometer in size within 10 years (1998 – 2008) NASA Authorization Act of 2005 provided additional direction) “… plan, develop, and implement a Near-Earth Object Survey program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize the physical characteristics of near-Earth objects equal to or greater than 140 meters in diameter in order to assess the threat of such near-Earth objects to the Earth. It shall be the goal of the Survey program to achieve 90 percent completion of its near-Earth object catalogue within 15 years [by 2020]. NEO Observation Program 2

NASA’s NEO Search Program (Current Systems) LINEAR MIT/LL Soccoro, NM Catalina Sky Survey UofAZ Arizona & Australia Minor Planet Center (MPC) IAU sanctioned Int’l observation database Initial orbit determination NEO Program JPL Program coordination Precision orbit determination Automated SENTRY Pan-STARRS Uof HI Haleakula, Maui NEO-WISE JPL Sun-synch LEO 3 End of Operations Feb 2011, Analysis Of Data Continues

Known Near Earth Asteriod Population Start of NASA NEO Program

Known Near Earth Asteroid Population 5

Spaceguard Survey Catalog Program Current Spaceguard Survey Infrastructure and Process Survey, Detect, & Report Correlate, Determine Rough Orbit Possible New PHO? Routine Processing Publish Results Yes Potential Impact? Resolve Result Differences Publish Results No Precision Orbit and Follow Up Observations Impact Still Possible? Observations and Update Orbit Publish/ Update Results No Yes Iterate Survey Systems Minor Planet Center JPL NEO Office* * In parallel with NEODyS Radar Alerts to NASA HQ MPC - PHO of interest MPC - possible close approach JPL - reports potential for impact JPL - publishes probability of impact 6

NASA’s NEO Search Program (Current Systems) LINEAR MIT/LL Soccoro, NM Catalina Sky Survey UofAZ Arizona & Australia Minor Planet Center (MPC) IAU sanctioned Int’l observation database Initial orbit determination NEO Program JPL Program coordination Precision orbit determination Automated SENTRY Pan-STARRS Uof HI Haleakula, Maui NEO-WISE JPL Sun-synch LEO 7 End of Operations Feb 2011, Analysis Of Data Continues Not Shown – “Follow-up” Projects: Several Professional Observatories provide critical data to secure orbits Numerous Amateur Astronomers worldwide provide high-precision observations to fill critical gaps

Radar Studies 8 Observations on the limited accessible objects –20 to 30 NEOs/year from Goldstone and Arecibo –Required for timely precision orbit determination –Characterization with sufficient signal strength Shape, spin-state, surface structure Satellites (an then derived mass) Shape, Size of 6489 Golevka Study of Shape, Size, Motion and Mass of (1999 KW4)

2005 YU55 Approach to Earth Nov. 8, 2011 C-type asteroid Diameter ~400 meters Earth & Moon close approach Extensive radar, visual and infrared observations were obtained.

Radar Rotation Study of 2005 YU55

Arecibo Observes Newly Discovered 2012 LZ 2012 LZ1 was discovered 10 June 2012 by Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Classified as a potentially hazardous by the Minor Planet Center because its orbit brings it close to Earth (within 20 lunar distances). Arecibo observed this asteroid on 19 June 2012 to measure its orbit more precisely, and to determine its size, rotation rate and shape LZ1 is twice as large as originally estimated based on its brightness, large enough to have serious global consequences if it were to hit the Earth. However, the new orbit solution based on radar measurements shows that this object does not have any chance of hitting the Earth for at least the next 750 years LZ1 was found to be about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in its largest dimension. It must be quite dark, reflecting only 2-4% of the light that hits it. The image shows that it is fairly spherical and rotates in about hours. Image was taken when the asteroid was 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) away, and the resolution is 7.5 m (25 feet).

FY2012 Budget Allocation

Future Survey Capabilities

Space SurveillanceTelescope 14 DARPA funded project Designed and built by MIT/LL Same division as LINEAR Located Atom Peak, WSMR, NM 3.6 meter primary mirror First Light was Feb 2011 Started 1 year of checkout Eventual operations by AFSPC First of 3 to 4 worldwide sites Serendipitous detection of NEOs in background mode to space surveillance

Near Term Impact Warning Proposed ATLAS telescope design Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System –ATLAS*: A project to patrol the entire night sky every night in search of incoming asteroids A geographically dispersed network (> 6 sites) of small coupled telescopes observing “shallow but wide” to provide more complete sky coverage for warning of near-term impact threats *Courtesy University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope 6.4-m effective diameter 10 sq deg field of view ugrizy optical filters 18,000 square degrees ++ 2x15s exposures + 2 more within 60 minutes Survey entire visible sky every 3-4 days in 2 filters for 10 years 16 Initial Operations 2019? A National Science Foundation Project

Various NEO Survey Telescope Concepts A NEO survey telescope will discover highly accessible NEO targets suitable for human exploration in a timely manner. –Optimized for detection of objects in Earth-like orbits within two years of launch –Launch ready in 4 to 5 years with low risk The survey will include follow-up of all detected objects, plus characterization (size, rotation rate) of selected objects. StudyDescriptionSurvey Type PictureCost NEOCam/JPL Sun-Earth L1 orbit Mid-IR 50cm aperture Sweet Spot < $500 M (excluding launch) NEOStar/BATC Trailing Venus orbit Mid-IR 50cm aperture Opposition ~ $500 M (excluding launch) NEST – L2/APL Sun-Earth L2 orbit Visible 90cm aperture Sweet Spot < $500 M (excluding launch) NEST - Venus/APL Trailing Venus orbit Mid-IR 90cm aperture Opposition ~ $500 M (excluding launch)

Space-based “Sentinel” Concept Kepler “Sentinel” ≈ 19 X Spitzer NASA has signed a Space Act Agreement to support B612 Project Sentinel