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NEA Scout

Near Earth Asteroid Scout

NEA Scout is an exciting new mission that was recently selected by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) by a team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Marshall Space Flight Center.

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Mission Statistics

Launch Date

September 2022

Type

CubeSat/SmallSat, Technology Demonstration

Target

Asteroids and Comets

Status

Current

About the mission

NEA Scout is an exciting new mission that was recently selected by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) by a team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Marshall Space Flight Center. This innovative, low-cost concept will map an asteroid and demonstrate several technological firsts, including being the first CubeSat to reach an asteroid.

Before sending astronauts to any new space environments, it is important to send robotic scouts to survey the destination and learn about the risks and challenges they may pose to future human explorers. Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout, will perform reconnaissance of an asteroid using a CubeSat and solar sail propulsion, which offers navigation agility during cruise for approaching the target. Propelled by sunlight, NEA Scout will flyby and observe a small asteroid (<300 feet in diameter), taking pictures and observing its position in space, the asteroid's shape, rotational properties, spectral class, local dust and debris field, regional morphology and regolith properties. NEA Scout's observations will directly assist in retiring the unknowns related to human exploration of asteroids and planetary small bodies. The data collected will enhance the current understanding of asteroidal environments and will yield key information for future human asteroid explorers.

More about Asteroids and Comets

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NASA to Discuss Psyche Asteroid Mission, Optical Communications Demo

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Psyche Orbital Operations

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Psyche's Mission Plan

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Psyche Launch Ascent Timeline

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Psyche Mission Team at JPL

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Psyche Undergoes Vibration Testing

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Psyche Spacecraft en Route to the Asteroid Belt (Artist's Concept)

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New Video Series Reveals What Drives NASA’s Psyche Mission Team

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Huge Solar Arrays Permanently Installed on NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft

NASA Portal Information on NEA Scout

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