Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-25-2013 06:54 AM
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C20 (PSLV-C20) rocket today (Feb. 25) with seven satellites aboard, including Canada's Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat), the world's first space telescope dedicated to detecting and tracking asteroids and satellites.
The suitcase-sized NEOSSat will orbit approximately 800 kilometres high above the Earth, searching for near-Earth asteroids that are difficult to spot using ground-based telescopes. Because of its lofty location, it is not limited by the day-night cycle, and can operate 24/7. The hundreds of images that NEOSSat will generate per day will be downloaded and analyzed by the University of Calgary's NEOSSat science operations centre. Through NEOSSat, Canada will contribute to the international effort to catalogue the near-Earth population of asteroids producing information that will be crucial to targeting new destinations for future space exploration missions.