DOCSLIB.ORG

Nanospacecraft Fleet for Multi-Asteroid Touring with Electric Solar Wind Sails

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Nanospacecraft Fleet for Multi-Asteroid Touring with Electric Solar Wind Sails See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323458920 Nanospacecraft Fleet for Multi-asteroid Touring with Electric Solar Wind Sails Article in IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings · March 2018 CITATIONS READS 0 302 19 authors, including: Andris Slavinskis P. K. Toivanen NASA Finnish Meteorological Institute 27 PUBLICATIONS 94 CITATIONS 64 PUBLICATIONS 418 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Maria Gritsevich David Mauro University of Helsinki NASA 147 PUBLICATIONS 534 CITATIONS 9 PUBLICATIONS 28 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: ESTCube-2 View project Multi-Asteroid Touring View project All content following this page was uploaded by Andris Slavinskis on 28 February 2018. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Nanospacecraft Fleet for Multi-asteroid Touring with Electric Solar Wind Sails Andris Slavinskis Pekka Janhunen Karri Muinonen Tartu Observatory Petri Toivanen Antti Penttila¨ NASA Ames Research Center Finnish Meteorological Institute Mikael Granvik Moffett Field Erik Palmenin´ aukio 1 Tomas Kohout Mountain View, CA 94035 00560 Helsinki, Finland Maria Gritsevich Mobile: +16505375099 [pekka.janhunen, petri.toivanen] Department of Physics [email protected] @fmi.fi P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Andris Slavinskis Mihkel Pajusalu [karri.muinonen, Mihkel Pajusalu Massachusetts Institute of Technology antti.i.penttila, mikael.granvik, Indrek Sunter¨ Department of Earth, Atmospheric, tomas.kohout, Hendrik Ehrpais and Planetary Sciences maria.gritsevich]@helsinki.fi Janis Dalbins 77 Massachusetts Ave Iaroslav Iakubivskyi Cambridge, MA 02139 Karri Muinonen Tonis˜ Eenmae¨ [email protected] Finnish Geospatial Tartu Observatory, University of Tartu Research Institute FGI Observatooriumi 1, Toravere˜ Erik Ilbis National Land Survey of Finland 61602 Tartu county, Estonia Hendrik Ehrpais Geodeetinrinne 2 Mobile: +37258284333 Estonian Student Satellite Foundation 02430 Masala, Finland [andris.slavinskis, mihkel.pajusalu, W. Ostwaldi 1-D601 indrek.sunter, hendrik.ehrpais, 50411 Tartu, Estonia Maria Gritsevich janis.dalbins, iaroslav.iakubivskyi, [[email protected], Ural Federal University tonis.eenmae]@ut.ee hendrik.ehrpais]@estcube.eu Institute of Physics and Technology Mira str. 19, 620002 David Mauro Andrew S. Rivkin Ekaterinburg, Russia Jan Stupl The Johns Hopkins University Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies Inc. Applied Physics Laboratory William F. Bottke NASA Ames Research Center 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd Southwest Research Institute Moffett Field Laurel, MD 20723-6099 1050 Walnut St, Suite 300 Mountain View, CA 94035 [email protected] Boulder, CO 80302 [jan.stupl, david.mauro]@nasa.gov [email protected] Abstract—We propose a distributed close-range survey of hun- dreds of asteroids representing many asteroid families, spec- tral types and sizes. This can be implemented by a fleet of nanospacecraft (e.g., 4–5-unit CubeSats) equipped with minia- ture imaging and spectral instruments (from near ultraviolet to near infrared). To enable the necessary large delta-v, each spacecraft carries a single electric sail tether which taps the momentum from the solar wind. Data are stored in a flash memory during the mission and downlinked at an Earth flyby. This keeps deep-space network telemetry costs down, despite the large number of individual spacecraft. To navigate without the use of the deep-space network, optical navigation is required to track stars, planets and asteroids. The proposed mission architecture is scalable both scientifically and financially. A TABLE OF CONTENTS fleet of 50 spacecraft will be able to obtain images and spectral data from 200 to 300 near-Earth and main belt asteroids. It 1. INTRODUCTION ................................... 2 allows study of those asteroid families and spectroscopic types for which currently no close-range observations are available. 2. SCIENCE OBJECTIVES ........................... 3 This paper presents science objectives, overall science traceabil- 3. SCIENCE TRACEABILITY MATRIX ............... 5 ity matrix, example targets and technical challenges associated with the mission. We open to discuss preliminary requirements, 4. EXAMPLE TARGETS .............................. 5 mission and spacecraft designs. 5. TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES ................ 7 6. PRELIMINARY REQUIREMENTS .................. 8 7. PRELIMINARY MISSION DESIGN ................. 9 8. SUMMARY ........................................ 16 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................... 16 REFERENCES ........................................ 17 978-1-5386-2014-4/18/$31:00 c 2018 IEEE BIOGRAPHY ......................................... 19 1 1. INTRODUCTION composition and structure of planetesimals from which, e.g., The motivations to study asteroids range from understanding the Earth once formed. Therefore we should have a reliable of the early evolution of the Solar System to plans of in- statistical view to size and compositional distributions of at space resource utilization. As remnants from Solar System least the largest asteroid families. An asteroid family (a group formation, they are studied to understand the delivery of of asteroids with similar orbital parameters and spectra) is water and organics to the Earth and other planets, and to thought to correspond to collisional fragments of a single determine the evolution and composition of the asteroids original parent body. themselves, of the planets, and the Solar System as a whole. During the mission, asteroids belonging to different families, As the largest population of Solar System objects, asteroids different spectral types and size classes are characterized. A and meteoroids regularly impact the Earth and its atmosphere, causing meteor showers, scientifically valuable meteorite fleet of small spacecraft tour multiple asteroids and gather impacts and devastating asteroid impacts [1]. As rich and remote measurements of a much larger number of asteroids accessible resources, asteroids could be used for extraction of than have thus far been studied at a close range. Each water and for mining of platinum group metals and building spacecraft is equipped with a small electric solar wind sail (E-sail) tether to give it large (in principle unlimited) ∆v materials. capability so that it can tour the asteroid belt indefinitely There are two principal ways the asteroids are studied. First, (i.e., limited only by the mission and spacecraft lifetime) and via distant, typically point-source observations with ground- return data to the ground during one or more Earth flybys. based and space telescopes. Second, via space missions with The science payload on board each spacecraft is lightweight close-range observation, in situ measurements and sample – a Near UltraViolet-VISual-Near InfraRed (NUV-VIS-NIR) instrument for high-resolution imaging at short wavelengths return. The first method allows the study of thousands of µ µ objects using a single instrument at a time. By doing so, we (e.g., 0.3–0.5 m) and up to 3.7- m spectral imaging. gain overall knowledge about orbits, albedos, colors, spectra The mission provides a unique contribution to the closing of and sizes of asteroids. On the other hand, a single spacecraft can study one or, in some cases, a few objects in detail. Space the knowledge gap between a large number of surveyed aster- missions can provide maps of albedos, colors, spectra and oids and a handful of closely studied asteroids by performing morphological features (craters, faults, fractures, boulders, flybys to tens of primary targets (two flybys per target) and hundreds of secondary targets. This allows collection etc.), three-dimensional models, precise mass and density < estimates, physical properties and chemical composition of of close-range ( 1000 km) high-resolution (10–20 m/px) the surface material, as well as infer the internal composition. imagery and spectra (45–170 m/px in the range from 1 to 3.7 µm). With such a simple measurement strategy, resolved As of today, there are more than 752,000 known asteroids [2], observations are obtained from asteroids over all spectral at least 138,000 of which have size and albedo estimates [3]. types and 10+ families, including all known active asteroids Information on the taxonomic class has been derived for and 10+ potentially hazardous objects. The mission also about 4,000 asteroids based on their low-resolution spec- contributes to determination of the evolution of the current tra. Using the broad-band photometry, tens of thousands population of asteroids, detection of hydration features, deter- of asteroids have been classified. The number of spectrally mination of mass and density of binaries, finding of signs of classified asteroids will increase to hundreds of thousands in material transfer between binaries, and mapping of potential the upcoming decade thanks to Gaia, Euclid and other large sample return targets and sites. scientific telescopes that are currently in development [4]. The MAT concept was proposed for the European Space Since the beginning of 1990s, six close-range, in situ and sample return missions have flown and performed detailed Agency’s (ESA’s) Announcement of Opportunity (AO) “New study of ten asteroids. The upcoming decade will double Science Ideas” [7]. Consequently ESA selected the theme of the number thanks to Hayabusa-2, OSIRIS-REx, DART, using nanospacecraft in small body missions and studied it
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Orbital Distribution of Near-Earth Objects Inside Earth’S Orbit
    Icarus 217 (2012) 355–366 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus The orbital distribution of Near-Earth Objects inside Earth’s orbit ⇑ Sarah Greenstreet a, , Henry Ngo a,b, Brett Gladman a a Department of Physics & Astronomy, 6224 Agricultural Road, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada b Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy, 99 University Avenue, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada article info abstract Article history: Canada’s Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat), set to launch in early 2012, will search for Received 17 August 2011 and track Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), tuning its search to best detect objects with a < 1.0 AU. In order Revised 8 November 2011 to construct an optimal pointing strategy for NEOSSat, we needed more detailed information in the Accepted 9 November 2011 a < 1.0 AU region than the best current model (Bottke, W.F., Morbidelli, A., Jedicke, R., Petit, J.M., Levison, Available online 28 November 2011 H.F., Michel, P., Metcalfe, T.S. [2002]. Icarus 156, 399–433) provides. We present here the NEOSSat-1.0 NEO orbital distribution model with larger statistics that permit finer resolution and less uncertainty, Keywords: especially in the a < 1.0 AU region. We find that Amors = 30.1 ± 0.8%, Apollos = 63.3 ± 0.4%, Atens = Near-Earth Objects 5.0 ± 0.3%, Atiras (0.718 < Q < 0.983 AU) = 1.38 ± 0.04%, and Vatiras (0.307 < Q < 0.718 AU) = 0.22 ± 0.03% Celestial mechanics Impact processes of the steady-state NEO population.
    [Show full text]
  • The Physical Characterization of the Potentially-‐Hazardous
    The Physical Characterization of the Potentially-Hazardous Asteroid 2004 BL86: A Fragment of a Differentiated Asteroid Vishnu Reddy1 Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA Email: [email protected] Bruce L. Gary Hereford Arizona Observatory, Hereford, AZ 85615, USA Juan A. Sanchez1 Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA Driss Takir1 Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA Cristina A. Thomas1 NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA Paul S. Hardersen1 Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA Yenal Ogmen Green Island Observatory, Geçitkale, Mağusa, via Mersin 10 Turkey, North Cyprus Paul Benni Acton Sky Portal, 3 Concetta Circle, Acton, MA 01720, USA Thomas G. Kaye Raemor Vista Observatory, Sierra Vista, AZ 85650 Joao Gregorio Atalaia Group, Crow Observatory (Portalegre) Travessa da Cidreira, 2 rc D, 2645- 039 Alcabideche, Portugal Joe Garlitz 1155 Hartford St., Elgin, OR 97827, USA David Polishook1 Weizmann Institute of Science, Herzl Street 234, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel Lucille Le Corre1 Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA Andreas Nathues Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany 1Visiting Astronomer at the Infrared Telescope Facility, which is operated by the University of Hawaii under Cooperative Agreement no. NNX-08AE38A with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Science Mission Directorate, Planetary Astronomy Program. Pages: 27 Figures: 8 Tables: 4 Proposed Running Head: 2004 BL86: Fragment of Vesta Editorial correspondence to: Vishnu Reddy Planetary Science Institute 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Suite 106 Tucson 85719 (808) 342-8932 (voice) [email protected] Abstract The physical characterization of potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) is important for impact hazard assessment and evaluating mitigation options.
    [Show full text]
  • THE DISTRIBUTION of ASTEROIDS: EVIDENCE from ANTARCTIC MICROMETEORITES. M. J. Genge and M. M. Grady, Department of Mineralogy, T
    Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII (2002) 1010.pdf THE DISTRIBUTION OF ASTEROIDS: EVIDENCE FROM ANTARCTIC MICROMETEORITES. M. J. Genge and M. M. Grady, Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD (email: [email protected]). Introduction: Antarctic micrometeorites (AMMs) due to aqueous alteration. Some C2 fgMMs contain are that fraction of the Earth's cosmic dust flux that tochilinite and are probably directly related to the CM2 survive atmospheric entry to be recovered from Antar- chondrites, however, others may differ from CMs in tic ice. Models of atmospheric entry indicate that, due their mineralogy. to their large size (>50 µm), unmelted AMMs are de- C1 fgMMs are particles with compact matrices that rived mainly from low geocentric velocity sources such are homogeneous in Fe/Mg and show little contrast in as the main belt asteroids [1]. The production of dust in BEIs. These are similar to the CI1 chondrites and do the main belt by small erosive collisions and the deliv- not contain recognisable psuedomorphs after anhy- ery of dust-sized debris to Earth by P-R light drag drous silicates and thus have been intensely altered by should ensure that AMMs are a much more representa- water. C1 fgMMs often contain framboidal magnetite tive sample of main belt asteroids than meteorites. clusters. The relative abundances of different petrological C3 fgMMs have porous matrices (often around types amongst 550 AMMs collected from Cap Prud- 50% by volume) and are dominated by micron-sized homme [2] is reported and compared with the abun- Mg-rich olivine and pyroxenes linked by a network of dances of asteroid spectral-types in the main belt.
    [Show full text]
  • Detection of Exocometary CO Within the 440 Myr Old Fomalhaut Belt: a Similar CO+CO2 Ice Abundance in Exocomets and Solar System Comets
    UCLA UCLA Previously Published Works Title Detection of Exocometary CO within the 440 Myr Old Fomalhaut Belt: A Similar CO+CO2 Ice Abundance in Exocomets and Solar System Comets Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1zf7t4qn Journal Astrophysical Journal, 842(1) ISSN 0004-637X Authors Matra, L MacGregor, MA Kalas, P et al. Publication Date 2017-06-10 DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/aa71b4 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California The Astrophysical Journal, 842:9 (15pp), 2017 June 10 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa71b4 © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Detection of Exocometary CO within the 440 Myr Old Fomalhaut Belt: A Similar CO+CO2 Ice Abundance in Exocomets and Solar System Comets L. Matrà1, M. A. MacGregor2, P. Kalas3,4, M. C. Wyatt1, G. M. Kennedy1, D. J. Wilner2, G. Duchene3,5, A. M. Hughes6, M. Pan7, A. Shannon1,8,9, M. Clampin10, M. P. Fitzgerald11, J. R. Graham3, W. S. Holland12, O. Panić13, and K. Y. L. Su14 1 Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; [email protected] 2 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 3 Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley CA 94720-3411, USA 4 SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA 5 Univ. Grenoble Alpes/CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France 6 Department of Astronomy, Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, 96 Foss Hill Dr., Middletown, CT 06459, USA 7 MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and
    [Show full text]
  • Aas 14-267 Design of End-To-End Trojan Asteroid
    AAS 14-267 DESIGN OF END-TO-END TROJAN ASTEROID RENDEZVOUS TOURS INCORPORATING POTENTIAL SCIENTIFIC VALUE Jeffrey Stuart,∗ Kathleen Howell,y and Roby Wilsonz The Sun-Jupiter Trojan asteroids are celestial bodies of great scientific interest as well as potential natural assets offering mineral resources for long-term human exploration of the solar system. Previous investigations have addressed the auto- mated design of tours within the asteroid swarm and the transition of prospective tours to higher-fidelity, end-to-end trajectories. The current development incorpo- rates the route-finding Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm into the auto- mated tour generation procedure. Furthermore, the potential scientific merit of the target asteroids is incorporated such that encounters with higher value asteroids are preferentially incorporated during sequence creation. INTRODUCTION Near Earth Objects (NEOs) are currently under consideration for manned sample return mis- sions,1 while a recent NASA feasibility assessment concludes that a mission to the Trojan asteroids can be accomplished at a projected cost of less than $900M in fiscal year 2015 dollars.2 Tour concepts within asteroid swarms allow for a broad sampling of interesting target bodies either for scientific investigation or as potential resources to support deep-space human missions. However, the multitude of asteroids within the swarms necessitates the use of automated design algorithms if a large number of potential mission options are to be surveyed. Previously, a process to automatically and rapidly generate sample tours within the Sun-Jupiter L4 Trojan asteroid swarm with a mini- mum of human interaction has been developed.3 This scheme also enables the automated transition of tours of interest into fully optimized, end-to-end trajectories using a variety of electrical power sources.4,5 This investigation extends the automated algorithm to use ant colony optimization, a heuristic search algorithm, while simultaneously incorporating a relative ‘scientific importance’ ranking into tour construction and analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Week 5: January 26-February 1, 2020
    5# Ice & Stone 2020 Week 5: January 26-February 1, 2020 Presented by The Earthrise Institute About Ice And Stone 2020 It is my pleasure to welcome all educators, students, topics include: main-belt asteroids, near-Earth asteroids, and anybody else who might be interested, to Ice and “Great Comets,” spacecraft visits (both past and Stone 2020. This is an educational package I have put future), meteorites, and “small bodies” in popular together to cover the so-called “small bodies” of the literature and music. solar system, which in general means asteroids and comets, although this also includes the small moons of Throughout 2020 there will be various comets that are the various planets as well as meteors, meteorites, and visible in our skies and various asteroids passing by Earth interplanetary dust. Although these objects may be -- some of which are already known, some of which “small” compared to the planets of our solar system, will be discovered “in the act” -- and there will also be they are nevertheless of high interest and importance various asteroids of the main asteroid belt that are visible for several reasons, including: as well as “occultations” of stars by various asteroids visible from certain locations on Earth’s surface. Ice a) they are believed to be the “leftovers” from the and Stone 2020 will make note of these occasions and formation of the solar system, so studying them provides appearances as they take place. The “Comet Resource valuable insights into our origins, including Earth and of Center” at the Earthrise web site contains information life on Earth, including ourselves; about the brighter comets that are visible in the sky at any given time and, for those who are interested, I will b) we have learned that this process isn’t over yet, and also occasionally share information about the goings-on that there are still objects out there that can impact in my life as I observe these comets.
    [Show full text]
  • The Appearance and Disappearance of Exocomet Gas Absorption
    Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in Astronomy Volume 2015, Article ID 980323, 20 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/980323 Research Article The Appearance and Disappearance of Exocomet Gas Absorption Barry Y. Welsh1 and Sharon L. Montgomery2 1 Experimental Astrophysics Group, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA 2Department of Chemistry, Mathematics & Physics, Clarion University, Clarion, PA 16214, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Barry Y. Welsh; [email protected] Received 30 March 2015; Accepted 9 June 2015 Academic Editor: De-Fu Bu Copyright © 2015 B. Y. Welsh and S. L. Montgomery. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. CaII K-line (3933 A)˚ absorption profiles observed towards 15 A-type and two B-type stars with known (or suspected) debris disks, in addition to archival spectral data for three A-type stars, are presented. Inspection of the extracted CaII K-line absorption lines has determined that one late B-type (HD 58647) and four new A-type (HD 56537, HD 64145, HD 108767, and HD 109573) stellar systems exhibit short-term (night-to-night) absorption variation within these profiles. This variability is due to the liberation of gas from falling evaporating bodies (the so-called FEBs activity) on the grazing approach of exocomets towards their parent star. Also we present archival spectra of the FeI 3860 A˚ and CaII K-lines towards Pictoris (HD 39060) that, for the first time, reveal the absorption signatures of FEB activity at similar velocities in both line profiles.
    [Show full text]
  • Compiled Thesis
    SPACE ROCKS: a series of papers on METEORITES AND ASTEROIDS by Nina Louise Hooper A thesis submitted to the Department of Astronomy in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree with Honors Harvard College 8 April 2016 Of all investments into the future, the conquest of space demands the greatest efforts and the longest-term commitment, but it also offers the greatest reward: none less than a universe. — Daniel Christlein !ii Acknowledgements I finished this senior thesis aided by the profound effort and commitment of my thesis advisor, Martin Elvis. I am extremely grateful for him countless hours of discussions and detailed feedback on all stages of this research. I am also grateful for the remarkable people at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics of whom I asked many questions and who took the time to help me. Special thanks go to Warren Brown for his guidance with spectral reduction processes in IRAF, Francesca DeMeo for her assistance in the spectral classification of our Near Earth Asteroids and Samurdha Jayasinghe and for helping me write my data analysis script in python. I thank Dan Holmqvist for being an incredibly helpful and supportive presence throughout this project. I thank David Charbonneau, Alicia Soderberg and the members of my senior thesis class of astrophysics concentrators for their support, guidance and feedback throughout the past year. This research was funded in part by the Harvard Undergraduate Science Research Program. !iii Abstract The subject of this work is the compositions of asteroids and meteorites. Studies of the composition of small Solar System bodies are fundamental to theories of planet formation.
    [Show full text]
  • A Short History of Hambur Y of Hambur Y of Hamburg Observatory
    A short history of Hamburggg Observvvaaatoryyy Stuart R. Anderson & Dieter Engels This paper’s aim is to provide a short history of Hamburg Observatory, its astronomers and instruments, its contribution to astronomy and to the popularisation and educational development of astronomy in Germany. Introduction ‘Bergedorf’, and this name will sometimes be used in this paper, although its official name is Hamburger Sternwarte), a small community just east of the city of Hamburg in north- Hamburg Observatory is located in Bergedorf, near the port ern Germany. This was not always the case, however. Johann city of Hamburg, Germany. Its history throughout its ap- Georg Repsold (1770−1830) was a fireman in the city who proximately 170 years of existence has been interesting and also maintained lighthouse equipment in his own workshop. varied, and at one stage it was one of the largest observato- For extra income, he was permitted to use this workshop for ries in Europe. The observatory and its astronomers have private purposes and having taken lessons in astronomy produced some contributions of outstanding importance to and mathematics, had an interest in building astronomical astronomy, including the celebrated Schmidt corrector plate. observing instruments. In 1799, the Swiss Johann Caspar Several minor planets, comets and novae were discovered Horner received a commission to survey the Weser, Elbe and and catalogues of crucial significance were and continue to Eider rivers and needed good quality optical equipment. be produced. More re- Repsold’s workshop seemed well suited to the task, and the cently, research efforts order for the equipment awakened his astronomical inter- have turned to extraga- ests.
    [Show full text]
  • In-Space Production of Storable Propellants
    Deep Space Industries Inc. In-Space Production NNX15AL85G of Storable Propellants NIAC Phase I Final Report for NNX15AL85G: In-Space Production of Storable Propellants Deep Space Industries Inc. John S. Lewis, P. I. 1 March 2016 Deep Space Industries Inc. In-Space Production NNX15AL85G of Storable Propellants Table of Contents Overview and Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5 1. Available Feedstock on C-cadre Asteroids ................................................................................................ 5 2. Energy Requirements for Heating Feedstock ........................................................................................... 6 3. Recovered Water and its Uses ................................................................................................................ 16 4. Electrolysis of Water for STP or Direct Combustion .............................................................................. 17 5. Electrolysis of Water for Manufacture of Storables .............................................................................. 19 6. Where Should we Make Propellants? ..................................................................................................... 20 7. Storage and Transportation of Water and Carbon Dioxide ..................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Optical Spectroscopy and Photometry of Main-Belt Asteroids with a High
    Research in Astron. Astrophys. 2015 Vol. X No. XX, 000–000 Research in http://www.raa-journal.org http://www.iop.org/journals/raa Astronomy and Astrophysics Optical Spectroscopy and Photometry of Main-Belt Asteroids with a High Orbital Inclination Aya Iwai1, Yoichi Itoh2, Tsuyoshi Terai3, Ranjan Gupta4, Asoke Sen5, Jun Takahashi2 1 National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1, Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan 2 Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory, Center for Astronomy, University of Hyogo, 407-2, Nishigaichi, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5313, Japan; [email protected] 3 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North Aohoku Place, Hilo Hawaii 96720, USA 4 Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, India 5 Department of Physics, Assam University, Silchar 788 001, India Received 2015 xxxx xx; accepted 2015 xxxx xx Abstract We carried out low-resolution optical spectroscopy of 51 main-belt asteroids, most of which have a highly-inclined orbit. They are selected from the D-type candidates in the SDSS-MOC 4 catalog. Using the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 m telescope in India, we de- termined the spectral types of 38 asteroids. Among them, eight asteroids were classified as D-type asteroids. Fractions of D-type asteroids are 3.0 ± 1.1 % for low orbital inclination main-belt asteroids and 7.3 ± 2.0 % for high orbital inclination main-belt asteroids. We consider that a part of D-type asteroids were formed within the ecliptic region between the main belt and Jupiter, and were then perturbated by Jupiter.
    [Show full text]
  • Link Between the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (86039) 1999 NC43 and the Chelyabinsk Meteoroid Tenuous ⇑ Vishnu Reddy A,1, , David Vokrouhlicky´ B, William F
    Icarus 252 (2015) 129–143 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus Link between the potentially hazardous Asteroid (86039) 1999 NC43 and the Chelyabinsk meteoroid tenuous ⇑ Vishnu Reddy a,1, , David Vokrouhlicky´ b, William F. Bottke c, Petr Pravec d, Juan A. Sanchez a,1, Bruce L. Gary e, Rachel Klima f, Edward A. Cloutis g, Adrián Galád d, Tan Thiam Guan h, Kamil Hornoch d, Matthew R.M. Izawa g, Peter Kušnirák d, Lucille Le Corre a,1, Paul Mann g, Nicholas Moskovitz i,1, Brian Skiff i, Jan Vraštil b a Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA b Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, V Holešovicˇkách 2, CZ-18000 Prague, Czech Republic c Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut St, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA d Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Fricˇova 1, CZ-25165 Ondrˇejov, Czech Republic e Hereford Arizona Observatory, Hereford, AZ 85615, USA f Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA g Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9, Canada h Perth Exoplanet Survey Telescope, 20 Lisle St, Mount Claremont, WA 6010, Australia i Lowell Observatory, 1400 W Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA article info abstract Article history: We explored the statistical and compositional link between Chelyabinsk meteoroid and potentially haz- Received 31 July 2014 ardous Asteroid (86039) 1999 NC43 to investigate their proposed relation proposed by Borovicˇka et al. Revised 17 December 2014 (Borovicˇka, J., et al. [2013]. Nature 503, 235–237).
    [Show full text]