Recent Results from the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) Project
H. E. M. Viggh, G. H. Stokes, F. C. Shelly, M. S. Blythe, J. S. Stuart (MIT Lincoln Laboratory)
Lincoln Laboratory has a long history of developing electro-optical
space surveillance technology for resident space object search,
detection, orbit determination, and catalog maintenance. Recent
advances in large format, highly sensitive CCDs with fast readout
rates, combined with customized data processing systems, make possible
the application of these technologies to the search, detection, and
cataloging of Earth crossing asteroids. Recent search results using
telescopes at the Experimental Test Site in Socorro, NM will be
presented, including the discovery of 1249 new MPC designated
asteroids, including 4 Near Earth Objects (NEOs) during a three month
period in early 1997. This work sponsored by the Dept. of the Air Force
under Contract No. F19628-95-C-0002.