Titre: the design and issues of NEOSSat, a near-Earth object detection system

Conférencier : Nimita Wadhwa, Spacecraft Engineer, Satellite Operations Department, Canadian Space Agency

Résumé:
In February 2013, Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat) was
launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre and became the first
microsatellite to be operated from the Multi-Mission Operations Centre
at the Canadian Space Agency. The importance of this satellite lies in
the embodiment of many firsts in the advancement of space technology. It
is a joint product of two missions – Near Earth Space Surveillance
(NESS) and High Earth Orbit Space Surveillance (HEOSS). The NESS mission
funded by the CSA aims to find and track the Interior to Earth's Orbit
(IEO) asteroids and comets making NEOSSat the first space based
telescope for this task. The HEOSS mission funded by the Defence
Research and Development Canada (DRDC) aims to use NEOSSat to
demonstrate the ability of microsatellites to perform the tracking of
Resident Space Objects (RSOs). These data will be Canada’s contribution
to the Space Surveillance Network. This lecture will highlight the
mission, its requirements leading to the design of the spacecraft
subsystems and the operations of the satellite. I will also talk about
the engineering challenges faced by the team, the efficient steps taken
and innovative techniques followed in the face of mission critical
anomalies.

Bio:

Nimita graduated as a Bachelor of Applied Science, Computer Engineering
from the University of Waterloo with a focus in Control Systems. She
worked in the Silicon Valley, on the Wall Street, and other companies in
engineering related capacities. She obtained a Masters of Engineering,
in Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University focusing on Spacecraft
Engineering – Attitude Controls and Orbital Mechanics with a project in
Robotics. She was hired by the Canadian Space Agency(CSA) in the
two-year Junior Engineer program in 2011 and was subsequently hired as a
Spacecraft Engineer in Satellite Operations in 2013.

Bienvenue à tous!