A dedicated telescope for NEO observation on the International Space Station.

Kurzfassung

The International Space Station (ISS) offers an opportunity to place and accomodate research equipment in LEO for a large variety of experiments. Through the Express Pallets System, already in the earlyphase of its utilisation, instruments can be installtes on prefabricated Adapters, for easy connection and control via the ISS. This concept will allow to gain access to a spaceborn 75 cm telescope, equipped with a spectrometer and camera system, to perform observations of solar system objects. Particular emphasis will be put on NEOs (asteroids and comets in near-earth space), where the proposed observatory shall be operated in close co-operation with ground-stations to complement and extend observations of newly discovered NEOs. Besides the observation of NEOs, the International Space Station Telescopic Observation Platform (ISSTOP) will facilitate teh spectral characterisation of mainbelt asteroids, the Moon and Mercury, and will allow to monitor variable phenomena on Venus, Mars and the outer planets. Taking advantage of the space location (no atmospheric disturbances, no seeing limitations, unrestricted wavelength coverage from UV to IR), a relatively small (75 cm mirror) telescope will make considerablecontributions for: Characterisation of the physical properties of NEOs, already shortly after their discovery and extending the orbital arc of objects covered with high-accuracy astrometric observations on order to improve orbit determination during the discovery apparition (through rapid reaction times, and 24 hour all sky access, even close to the vicinity of the sun); complementary search efforts in regions of the sky where observations from the ground are limited or impossible, i.e. searching for objects close to the sun at elongation angles as low as 18 degrees; NIR spectroscopic survey of mainbelt asteroids; imaging of the hitherto unobserved hemisphere of Mercury;.