NEAT ON THE MSSS 1.2-M TELESCOPE
NEAT began taking sky data on the Maui Space Surveillance Site's (MSSS) 1.2-m telescope in
February 2000, and resumed monthly operations. NEAT is contributing to the NASA 10-year
goal to discover more than 90% of the Near-Earth asteroids larger than 1-km in diameter. It is
the largest aperture telescope with a regular Near-Earth object detection program.
FIRST LIGHT ON MSSS 1.2-M
NEAT achieved first light on the Maui Space Surveillance System 1.2-m telescope on 8 February
2000. Below are parts of three NEAT/MSSS images from that night. Asteroid tracking
operations are scheduled to begin later in February.
BACKGROUND
The United States Air Force Space Command provided funding to modify the MSSS 1.2-m
telescope, giving it a much larger field of view, suitable for NEAT's asteroid survey. This
modification was carried out by a team from Air Force Research Laboratory and Boeing. In
January 2000 the JPL NEAT camera was first integrated into this new optical
assembly-headring and focal-reducer, which in turn was mounted on the telescope. Balancing,
alignment, cooling, and electrical tests were successfully completed from 17-19 January. (First
starlight however was delayed by bad weather.)
Following is a photo gallery of the development of the NEAT system and modified MSSS 1.2-m
telescope.
January 2000 (photos provided by the Boeing team at MSSS)
November 1999
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