MarcoPolo-R: Near-Earth Asteroid sample return mission selected for the assessment study phase of the ESA program cosmic vision

Abstract

Abstract. This paper presents the sample return mission to a primitive Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA)MarcoPolo-R proposed to the European Space Agency in December 2010. MarcoPolo-R was selected in February 2011 with three other missions addressing different science objectives for the two-year Assessment Phase of the Medium-Class mission competition of the Cosmic Vision 2 program for launch in 2022. The baseline target of MarcoPolo-R is the binary NEA (175706) 1996 FG3, which offers an efficient operational and technical mission profile. A binary target also provides enhanced science return. The choice of a binary target allows several scientific investigations to occur more easily than through a single object, in particular regarding the fascinating geology and geophysics of asteroids. MarcoPolo-R will rendezvous with a primitive, organic-rich NEA, scientifically characterize it at multiple scales, and return a bulk sample to Earth for laboratory analyses. The MarcoPolo-R sample will provide a representative sample from the surface of a known asteroid with known geologic context, and will contribute to the inventory of primitive material that is probably missing from the meteorite collection. The MarcoPolo-R samples will thus contribute to the exploration of the origin of planetary materials and initial stages of habitable planet formation, to the identification and characterization of the organics and volatiles in a primitive asteroid and to the understanding of the unique geomorphology, dynamics and evolution of a binary asteroid that belongs to the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) population.

The NEO (175706) 1996 FG3 in the 2–4μm spectral region: Evidence for an aqueously altered surface

“…Because of its spectral similarity to carbonaceous chondrites, its accessible orbit, and the potential scientific return from a visit to a binary system, 1996 FG3 was chosen as a possible target for MarcoPolo-R (Barucci et al, 2011;Michel et al, 2012), a sample return mission under consideration for flight by the European Space Agency (ESA) with launch in the 2020-2024 time frame. This work seeks to further characterize 1996 FG3 spectrally.…”

Atmospheric Electrification in Dusty, Reactive Gases in the Solar System and Beyond

“…The mass spectrometry needed to understand the rocky particles on the surface of asteroids (regolith: dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons) is too sophisticated for comparatively simple spacecraft-borne instrumentation, and this has motivated several sample return missions aiming to return regolith to Earth for more detailed analysis. The Japanese Hayabusa mission collected a sample from asteroid Itokawa in 2005, NASA's Osiris-Rex mission visits asteroid Bennu in 2016, and a European mission, Marco Polo-R, was also recently studied in detail (Michel et al 2014). …”

Orbital transfers in an asteroid system considering the solar radiation pressure

“…In recent years, the interest in asteroids and comets has increased and several missions have been proposed for these bodies, such as NEAR Shoemaker (Prockter et al 2002), Dawn (Rayman et al 2006), Hayabusa (Kawaguchi (Glassmeier et al 2007), Aster mission (Sukhanov et al 2010), Hayabusa 2 (Tsuda et al 2013b) and MarcoPolo-R (Michel et al 2014). Because those bodies have high eccentricities, they have periapsis near the Sun and apoapsis more distant, so the influence of the solar radiation pressure on the probes of these missions may become relevant.…”