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# Program information file
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PROGRAM_ID 2023B058
PROGRAM_TITLE Near-Infrared Spectral Observations of High Priority Near-Earth Objects
PROGRAM_INV1 Cristina Thomas
PROGRAM_INV2 Schelte Bus
PROGRAM_INV3 Francesca DeMeo
PROGRAM_INV4 Lauren McGraw
PROGRAM_INV5 Brian Burt
PROGRAM_SCICAT near-Earth objects
PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG
Near-Earth Objects [NEOs] are asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them close to Earth's orbit. NEOs represent an ongoing flux of small bodies from elsewhere in the Solar System into near-Earth space. The study of asteroid compositions, and of NEOs in particular, teach us about the original environment of the Solar System during
formation and the conditions as physical and chemical changes occur throughout Solar System history. We propose an NEO spectral survey. The survey will use the SpeX instrument to obtain prism and LXD short observations of high priority near-Earth objects including those with favorable observing circumstances, potentially hazardous
asteroids, and low delta-V targets. Our program has two key goals: [1] Obtain SpeX prism spectra of high priority NEOs and improve our understanding of the compositional distribution of the NEO population with a focus on its dependence on asteroid size. [2] Use SpeX LXD spectra to examine the distribution of volatiles in the near-Earth asteroid population via an analysis of 3-micron spectral features.
PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END