# # Program information file # 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