Solar Cells Inspected on NASA’s NEO Surveyor
A technician checks the massive sunshade and solar array for NASA’s upcoming asteroid‑hunting spacecraft.
Exciting progress on NASA’s Near‑Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission was captured this summer as a technician performed a close‑up inspection of the spacecraft’s large sunshade.
The inspection took place in late July at BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems in Boulder, Colorado, where the sunshade and its integrated solar cells were examined for any issues before final integration.
Built by Applied Aerospace in Stockton, California, the sunshade structure was later outfitted with its solar cells by SolAero Technologies of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January.
Following installation, the entire assembly underwent environmental testing at a commercial thermal vacuum facility in El Segundo, California, in March.
After successfully completing the thermal‑vacuum tests, the sunshade and solar array were delivered to BAE Systems ahead of schedule in May, positioning the hardware for the next phases of the mission.
When operational in space, NEO Surveyor will search for some of the most elusive asteroids and comets, including those that lie in the direction of the Sun—a region where ground‑based optical telescopes struggle to observe.
More details about the NEO Surveyor mission can be found at NASA’s science website.
