Names | NEA Scout |
---|---|
Mission type | Technology demonstrator, Reconnaissance |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 2022-156H |
SATCAT no. | 57684 |
Mission duration | 2.5 years (planned) 2 days (final) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
Bus | 6U CubeSat |
Launch mass | 14 kg (31 lb) [1] |
Dimensions | 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm (3.9 in × 7.9 in × 11.8 in) Solar sail: 85 m2 (910 sq ft) [2] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC[3] |
Rocket | SLS Block 1 |
Launch site | KSC, LC-39B[4] |
Contractor | NASA |
End of mission | |
Last contact | Never established |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Heliocentric orbit |
Transponders | |
Band | X-band |
TWTA power | 2 watts |
NEA Scout Mission Patch |
The Near-Earth Asteroid Scout (NEA Scout) was a mission by NASA to develop a controllable low-cost CubeSat solar sail spacecraft capable of encountering near-Earth asteroids (NEA).[5][6] NEA Scout was one of ten CubeSats launched into a heliocentric orbit on Artemis 1, the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, on 16 November 2022.[3][7]
The target for the mission was asteroid 2020 GE,[8] but this could have changed based on launch date or other factors.[9] After deployment, NEA Scout was to perform a series of lunar flybys to achieve optimum departure trajectory before beginning its two-year-long cruise.
No contact with the spacecraft was ever made, and the mission was lost.[10]
Sobey 2016
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).FTU
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).The target is 2020 GE, a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) that is less than 60 feet (18 meters) in size.