Near Earth Asteroid Scout exhibit
Key components of one of NASA’s latest missions, the Near Earth Asteroid Scout or NEA Scout, are on display in the “Dare to Explore: Frontiers of Space” exhibit. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) manages the NEA Scout mission, a solar-sail propelled CubeSat that flew on Artemis I in 2022 with the goal of capturing pictures of a near-Earth asteroid.
The exhibit includes both a half-scale model of the shoebox-sized CubeSat and a deployed solar sail. A display case holds a full-scale NEA Scout CubeSat model with deployed solar panels as well as the model of a CubeSat dispenser like the one that carried NEA Scout to space.
Les Johnson presentation
Subject to availability
Les Johnson, the Principal Investigator for the NEA Scout solar sail, will talk about the mission and solar sail technology, Tuesday, March 12, from 10 am. to 1 p.m. He will explore the promising use of solar sails, which use the power of the sun for propulsion much like a sailboat uses wind.
Johnson is the lead for solar sail propulsion technology development at MSFC, where he has served as Manager for the Space Science Programs and Projects Office, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Project, and the Interstellar Propulsion Research Project. Johnson is also the author of several science fiction novels and popular science books.