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The NEAR Laser Ranging Investigation JOURNALOF GEOPHYSICALRESEARCH, VOL. 102,NO. El0, PAGES23,761-23,773, OCTOBER 25, 1997 The NEAR laser ranginginvestigation M.T. Zuber l Departmentof Earth, Atmosphericand Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge D.E. Smith Laboratoryfor TerrestrialPhysics, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland A.F. Cheng, T.D. Cole JohnsHopkins University Applied PhysicsLaboratory, Laurel, Maryland Abstract.The objective ofthe Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) laser ranging investigationis to obtainhigh integrity profiles and grids of topographyfor usein geophysical, geodeticand geological studies of asteroid433 Eros. TheNEAR laserrangefinder (NLR) will determinethe slant range of theNEAR spacecraftto theasteroid surface by measuringprecisely the roundtrip time of flightof individuallaser pulses. Ranges will be convertedto planetaryradii measuredwith respect to the asteroid center of massby subtracting the spacecraft orbit determined from X band•Dopplertracking. The principalcomponents of the NLR includea 1064 nm Cr:Nd:YAGlaser, a go!d-coatedaluminum Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain telescope, an enhanced siliconavalanche photodiode hybrid detector, a 480-MHz crystaloscillator, and a digitalprocessing unit.The instrument has a continuousin-flight calibration capability using a fiber-opticdelay assembly.The singie shot vertical resolution ofthe NLR is <6 m,..and the absolute accuracy of the globalgrid will be -10 m with respectto the asteroidcenter of mass. For the currentmission orbitalscenario, the laserspot size on the surfaceof Eroswill vary from -4-11 m, andthe along- trackresolution for thenominal pulse repetition rate of 1 Hz will be approximatelycomparable to the spotsize, resulting in contiguousalong-track profiles. The across-trackresolution will depend on the orbitalmapping scenario, but will likely be <500 m, whichwill definethe spatial resolutionof the globaltopographic model. Plannedscience investigations include global-scale analysesrelated to collisionaland impact history and internal density distribution that Utilize topographicgrids as well as sphericalharmonic topographic models that will be analyzedjointly withgravity at commenstirateresolution. Attempts will bemade to detectpossible subtle time variationsin internal structure that may be present if Eros is not a singlecoherent body, by analysisof low degreeand order spherical harmonic coefficients. Local- to regional-scaleanalyses will utilizehigh-resolution three-dimensional topographic maps of specificsurface structures to addresssurface geologic processses. Results from the NLR investigationwill contribute significantlyto understandingthe origin, structure,and evolutionof Eros andother asteroidal bodies. Introduction Knowledge about asteroids has been derived from remote, Earth-basedobservations, two flybys by the Galileo spacecraft Much of our understandingof the formation and early [Belton eta!., 1992], selected data from the asteroid-like evolution of the solar system has come from the study of Martian moons [Veverka and Burns, 1980; Thomas et al., asteroids and meteorites [Binzel et al., 1989]. Near-Earth 1992], analyses of relationships to meteorites [Wetherill and asteroidshave become the object of increasing focus because Chapman, 1988; Binzel and Xu, 1993], and theoretical of their proximity to Earth and the likelihood that they are the modeling of asteroidal dynamics [Wisdom, 1983, 1985], immediate progenitors for most meteorites [Wetherill and structure, and thermal evolution [Bell et al., 1989]. The Near-. Chapman, 1988]. Interest in near-Earth asteroids has been Earth Asteroid Rendezvous(NEAR) Mission [Cheng et al., this further heightened by the realization of their potential for issue] holds the promise of dramatically improving our catastrophic terrestrial impacts [Alvarez et al., 1980]. understandingof a near-Earth asteroid that has been well- 1AlsoatLaboratory forTerrestrial Physics, NASA/Goddard Space studied by Earth-based observations [cf. Icarus, Volume 28, Flight Center,Greenbelt, Maryland. May, 1976]. The sizes and shapes of asteroids contain important Copyright1997 by the AmericanGeophysical Union. information concerning the thermal, collisional and Paper number 97JE00890. dynamical histories of these bodies and their internal 0148-0227/97/97JE-00890509.00 structures. For asteroids with diameters less than 100 km, like 23,761 23,762 ZUBER ET AL.: NEAR LASER RANGING INVESTIGATION 433 Eros, shapeis believedto be controlledby collisions and it would appearthat Eros is a highly elongate body. However, impact cratering, with only a minor contribution dueto self- the observations do not rule out the possibility that the gravitation [Catullo et al., 1984; Bell et al., 1989]. However, asteroidmay actually be a "rubblepile," consisting of two or questionssuch as the collisional and fragmentationhistory as more small, gravitationally bound bodies [G. Shoemaker, evidencedby asteroidalshape and regolith properties, and the personal communication, 1994]. extent of possible chemical differentiation of the interior remain enigmatic. Analysis of high-resolutionaltimetry data, in combination with gravity, magnetics, and data from Scienceand MeasurementObjectives imaging sensorson NEAR will provide valuableinsight into The objective of the NEAR laser ranging experimentis to these fundamentalquestions. producehigh-resolution and high-accuracyprofiles and grids of topography that will contribute significantly to understandingthe shape, internal structure, and evolution of Sizes and Shapesof Small Satellites and Asteroids Eros. This objective representsthe essential influence on the The modest sizes of even the largest near-Earth asteroids designed measurement capability of the NEAR laser dictate that details of their surface shapes cannot be rangefinder (NLR) [Cole et al., 1995]. The accuracyand unambiguously resolved from Earth-based observations. geodeticcontrol of the topographicmeasurements produced by Consequently, a variety of novel techniques have been the NLR will enable quantitative analyses ranging from developedto infer the sizes and gross shapesof these bodies global-scalequestions such as collisional history and internal [Binzel et al., 1989]. Detailed numerical representationsof density distribution, to local- to regional-scaleanalyses such the shapes of the best studied minor planetary bodies have as the natureof specificsurface structures and the natureof the principally utilized limb, terminator, and photogrammetric asteroidregolith. As discussedin more detail later, the single- measurementsderived from imagery [Batson et al., 1989; shot range precision of the NLR (taking into accountrandom Magnusson et al., 1989; Millis and Dunham, 1989; Stooke and systematic error sources)will be less than 6 m, and the and Keller, 1990; Duxbury, 1991; Simonelli et al., 1993; absolutevertical accuracy,which is mainly governedby the Thomas, 1993] and radar techniques[Ostro, 1989; Ostro et al., radial orbit error of the NEAR spacecraft,will be of the order of 1988, 1990a, 1990b, 1991, 1995; Hudson, 1993; Hudson and 10 m with respectto the asteroidcenter of mass. The along- Ostro, 1994, 1995]. These models invoke assumptionsabout track spatial resolution of the instrument will be -4-11 m, and the natuceof solid-body tides, rotation, and self-gravity in the across-trackresolution will be determinedby the orbit and constrainingsurface slopes [Thomas, 1993]. mission duration, but should be 500 m or better. All NLR Perhaps the best studied small bodies are the Martian measurements will be in a center of mass reference frame, moons, Phobos (with radial axes of 13.05 km x 11.10 km x allowing precise registration of these data to observations from other NEAR sensors. 9.30 km) and Deimos (7.8 km x 6.0 km x 5.1 km). Studies of these bodies have made use of an extensive database of Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter imagery [Duxbury and Callahan, 1988, The NEAR Laser Rangefinder 1989; Batson et al., 1989, 1992; Duxbury, 1989, 1991; Thomas, 1993]. Several analyses of these bodies used Instrument Description interpolation between control points to generate digital shape models for mosaickingand re-projectionof image data. The NLR [Cole et al., 1995, 1997], shownin Figure 1, uses The shapeof asteroid951 Gasprahas also been constrained a direct-detection, bistatic transmitter - receiver design. (radial axes of 9.25 km x 5.25 km x 4.45 km) [Thomas et al., Instrument parametersare given in Table 1. The transmitter 1994] utilizing control point techniques[Davies et •ll., 1994] containsa chromiumand neodymium-dopedyttrium-aluminum- and Galileo imagery [Belton et al., 1992], and it was shown garnet (Cr:Nd:YAG) laser rod pumpedby a gallium arsenide that this asteroid has a more irregular shape than is (GaAs) laserdiode array. The transmitteremploys a U-shaped characteristicof other well-imaged small bodies. Subsequent cavity design [Culpepperet al., 1995] in which the YAG slab to the Gaspra encounter, Galileo flew by the asteroid 243 Ida is side-pumped. A lithium-niobate (LiNbO3) Q-switch and used a similar approach[Davies et al., 1996] to determine controlsthe pulsing of the laser by changing the polarization the radial axes (14.95 km x 6.35 km x 4.65 km) and shape state of recirculatinglaser light within the cavity. This Q- [Thomas et al., 1996] of this body, and recognized the first switched, solid-state laser emits 12-ns wide pulses with an asteroidalsatellite, 0.7-kin radius Dactyl. energyof 15 mJ at a wavelengthof 1064 nm. A 9.3x Galilean In
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