Near-earth asteroid tracking (NEAT) program

The discoveries of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and comets have increased enormously over the last 10-20 years. This is a consequence, in large part, of the success of programs that have systematically searched for these objects. These programs have been motivated by the relationships of NEAs to terrestrial impacts, meteorites, comets, and their relative accessibility to spacecraft missions. This paper will review the long-term Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey (PCAS), a photographic program, and the current Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) system, NASA's new electronic detection program. The primary goal of NEAT is to discover and inventory near-Earth asteroids and comets, collectively called near-Earth objects or NEOs, larger than 1 km in size. Details of the NEAT system and program results are presented and discussed.