System |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
---|
Space-Based Visible Survey (e.g., 0.5 m at L1) |
- Accurate orbits
- Preliminary H
- Some characterization depending on instrumentation
|
- Size uncertainty similar to that of ground-based surveys
- Will take decades to even approach 90% completeness—cannot meet the George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act limit
- Tradeoff between aperture size, cost, and contribution beyond LSST
- Potentially costly at approximately $550 million plus launch
- Options to reduce cost below that of Discovery missions exist but mean longer time to achieve completion
|
Space-Based Visible Survey (SmallSat platform) |
- Lower cost than other options — approximately $40 million per satellite
|
- Insufficient sensitivity to reach George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act criterion
- Software for orbit determination does not exist but is under development
|
Infrared Systems—Ground and Space Based |
Space-Based Infrared Survey (50 cm at L1) |
- Accurate sizes
- Tight constraints on albedo, given H
- Able to complete survey roughly 10 years after launch
|
- Potentially expensive at $550 million plus launch
|
Ground-Based Characterization—Mid-Infrared (e.g., Keck, LBT, Gemini) |
- Accurate sizes
- Tight constraints on albedo, given H
|
- Small field of view and low, unreliable sensitivity due to Earth’s atmosphere make searches impractical
- Can measure rotation rate, etc., but no benefit over visible wavelength measurements
|
Air-Based Characterization—Aircraft, Mid-Infrared (5-35 μm) (e.g., SOFIA) |
- Accurate sizes
- Tight constraints on albedo, given H
- Suffers much less from atmospheric effects than ground-based infrared
|
- Small field of view makes searches impractical
- Can measure rotation rate, etc., but no benefit over visible wavelength measurements
- Less flexible and more costly than ground-based infrared
|
|
NOTE: CSS, Catalina Sky Survey; LBT, Large Binocular Telescope; LSST, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope; NEO, near Earth object; Pan-STARRS, Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System; SOFIA, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.