NASA has released an image of the large sunshade being prepared for its Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission, an infrared space telescope designed to search for near-Earth asteroids and comets.
A technician inspects the structure in the image released Oct. 26, 2026. Built by BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems, the sunshade stands 20 feet tall and measures 8 feet wide at its base, according to NASA.
Once in space, the sunshade will help keep the telescope cool and provide power to the spacecraft. NEO Surveyor is intended to detect difficult-to-find asteroids and comets, including objects located in the direction of the Sun, where ground-based optical telescopes have greater difficulty searching.
