Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for OpNav (DRACO): design, fabrication, test, and operation

Fletcher, Zachary; Ryan, K.; Ernst, C. M.; Maas, B. J.; Dickman, J. R.; Greenberg, J. Mayo; Nelson, Tyler; Lewis, Derek; Mize, James; Cheng, Andrew; Bekker, Dmitriy; Rodríguez, Luis M.; Daly, Terik; Smith, Ronald D.; Tran, Minh

doi:10.1117/12.2627873

Cited by 15 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The LEIA images taken at different moments of time will allow us to estimate changes in the ejecta mass and velocities; they will also reveal the difference in the material excavated from different depth of the asteroid interior. The DRACO (Fletcher et al 2022) images will be used to find out the albedo distribution on the surface of Dimorphos. The SPICE data (Acton et al 2016) will be used to find the geometry of observations.…”

Section: Characterization Of the Ejecta Particlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D Radiative-transfer Simulations of the Ejecta Plume Anticipated from DART Impact

Kolokolova

Selous

et al. 2022

Planet. Sci. J.

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We present a modeling approach that allows the reconstruction of detailed images of the ejecta plume produced by the DART impact on asteroid Dimorphos. The approach is based on the 3D radiative-transfer technique and uses the publicly available HYPERION software package. The modeling automatically includes all interactions of light with the asteroid and ejecta plume, including transmission of the light through a hollow cone, reflection from the asteroid, and second transmission through the ejecta for each point within the ejecta plume and asteroid surface. The results of the modeling are the FITS images of the asteroid and ejecta as they will be seen by the LEIA camera on board LICIACube for any specific moments after impact. The parameters of the modeling are preimpact assumptions regarding Dimorphos’ shape and composition, the presumed impact location, and the planned flyby trajectory of LICIACube. The results of the modeling show the readiness of our modeling tools to simulate the realistic ejecta plume after impact with the purpose to model the LICIACube images at different moments after impact and estimate the properties of the dust ejecta particles and the ejecta mass.

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Section: Characterization Of the Ejecta Particlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D Radiative-transfer Simulations of the Ejecta Plume Anticipated from DART Impact

Kolokolova

Selous

et al. 2022

Planet. Sci. J.

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“…Deriving boulder SFD and the corresponding power/exponential-law indices has been an important scientific topic addressed in several fly-by and orbital missions to minor bodies (e.g. Geissler et al, 1996;Pajola et al, 2015;2016b;DellaGiustina et al, 2019); this will be accomplished on the (65803) Didymos binary system as well, both with the LICIACube cameras and the DRACO instrument onboard DART (Fletcher et al, 2016). One of the main goals of LICIACube is indeed to get multiple images of the DART impact site to measure the size and morphology of the crater: through the use of this same dataset it will be possible to get both the boulders SFD and provide geological context of the impact event.…”

Section: Surface Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

LICIACube - The Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids In support of the NASA DART mission towards asteroid (65803) Didymos

Dotto

Corte

Amoroso

et al. 2021

Planetary and Space Science

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Fast boulder fracturing by thermal fatigue detected on stony asteroids

Lucchetti,

Cambioni,

Nakano

et al. 2024

Nat Commun

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Spacecraft observations revealed that rocks on carbonaceous asteroids, which constitute the most numerous class by composition, can develop millimeter-to-meter-scale fractures due to thermal stresses. However, signatures of this process on the second-most populous group of asteroids, the S-complex, have been poorly constrained. Here, we report observations of boulders’ fractures on Dimorphos, which is the moonlet of the S-complex asteroid (65803) Didymos, the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense mission. We show that the size-frequency distribution and orientation of the mapped fractures are consistent with formation through thermal fatigue. The fractures’ preferential orientation supports that these have originated in situ on Dimorphos boulders and not on Didymos boulders later transferred to Dimorphos. Based on our model of the fracture propagation, we propose that thermal fatigue on rocks exposed on the surface of S-type asteroids can form shallow, horizontally propagating fractures in much shorter timescales (100 kyr) than in the direction normal to the boulder surface (order of Myrs). The presence of boulder fields affected by thermal fracturing on near-Earth asteroid surfaces may contribute to an enhancement in the ejected mass and momentum from kinetic impactors when deflecting asteroids.

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Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for OpNav (DRACO): design, fabrication, test, and operation

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

3D Radiative-transfer Simulations of the Ejecta Plume Anticipated from DART Impact

3D Radiative-transfer Simulations of the Ejecta Plume Anticipated from DART Impact

LICIACube - The Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids In support of the NASA DART mission towards asteroid (65803) Didymos

Fast boulder fracturing by thermal fatigue detected on stony asteroids

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