The large sunshade of NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission was inspected by a technician at BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in late July. The structure, built by Applied Aerospace in Stockton, California, received its solar cells from SolAero Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January.

NEO Surveyor is a space mission dedicated to detecting and tracking near-Earth objects, asteroids and comets that could pose an impact risk. The sunshade is a critical component of the observatory: it blocks sunlight and heat from the Sun so that the infrared instruments can operate at temperatures low enough to capture the faint thermal signal from these bodies.

Integrating the solar cells onto the sunshade combines two functions in a single structure: besides optically shielding the telescope, it supplies the electrical power the spacecraft needs. Ground inspections form part of the environmental testing and verification that precede launch.

The mission is expected to expand the known catalogue of near-Earth objects, complementing ground-based telescopes with space-based observation particularly sensitive to dark bodies and to those approaching from the direction of the Sun.