The Asteroid Redirect Mission and sustainable human exploration

Gates, Michele; Stich, Steve; McDonald, Mark A.; Muirhead, Brian; Mazanek, Daniel D.; Abell, P. A.; López, Pedro Enrique Villasana

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.01.025

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Gravitational tractor is insensitive to the structure, surface properties and rotation state of the asteroid 9 ; however, it requires a long warning time, and the particles on the asteroid's surface may be attracted to the spacecraft, which poses a threat to the spacecraft. The ARM (Asteroid Redirect Mission) proposed by NASA in 2013 studied the feasibility of using a gravitational tractor to maneuver small asteroids [10][11][12] , but this strategy does not apply to large-scale asteroids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2)Rendezvous with NEA & Collect Rocks. This stage refers to the ARM concept 12 . The unmanned spacecraft rendezvouses with an NEA that passes close (minimum distance of less than 0.1 AU) to the target PHA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A gravitational tractor is insensitive to the structure, surface properties and rotation state of the asteroid 6 , however, the main caveat is the requirement for the spacecraft propulsion system to operate reliably for perhaps a decade or more 4 . The ARM (Asteroid Redirect Mission) proposed by NASA in 2013 studied the feasibility of using a tractor to maneuver small asteroids [7][8][9] , but this strategy does not apply to large asteroids.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2) Rendezvous with a NEA & Collect Rocks. This stage refers to the ARM concept 9 . The unmanned spacecraft is used to rendezvous with an intermediate NEA.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhanced Kinetic Impactor for Deflecting Large Potentially Hazardous Asteroids via Maneuvering Space Rocks

Wang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Asteroid impacts pose a major threat to all life on Earth. The age of the dinosaurs was abruptly ended by a 10-km-diameter asteroid. Currently, a nuclear device is the only means of deflecting large Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) away from an Earth-impacting trajectory. The Enhanced Kinetic Impactor (EKI) concept is proposed to deflect large PHAs via maneuvering space rocks. First, an unmanned spacecraft is launched to rendezvous with an intermediate Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA). Then, more than one hundred tons of rocks are collected from the NEA as the EKI. The NEA can also be captured as the EKI if the NEA is very small. Finally, the EKI is maneuvered to impact the PHA at a high speed, resulting in a significant deflection of the PHA. For example, to deflect Apophis, as much as 200 t of rocks could be collected from a NEA as the EKI based on existing engineering capabilities. The EKI can produce a velocity increment (∆v) of 39.81 mm/s in Apophis, thereby increasing the minimum geocentric distance during the close encounter in 2029 by 1,866.93 km. This mission can be completed in 3.96 years with a propellant cost of 2.98 t. Compared with a classic kinetic impactor, the deflection distance can be increased one order of magnitude. The EKI concept breaks through the limitation of the ground-based launch capability, which can significantly increase the mass of the impactor. We anticipate that our research will be a starting point for efficient planetary defense against large PHAs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2) Rendezvous with a NEA & Collect Rocks. This stage refers to the ARM concept 9 . The unmanned spacecraft is used to rendezvous with an intermediate NEA.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhanced Kinetic Impactor for Deflecting Large Potentially Hazardous Asteroids via Maneuvering Space Rocks

Wang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…The Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission aims to demonstrate the kinetic-impact technique for asteroid deflection and consists of two spacecraft, the first of which is scheduled to be launched in late 2020 (Cheng et al, 2015). A further mission, the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), is currently under study and is planned to capture and redirect a small NEA into an orbit accessible to a human crew (Gates et al, 2015). Nevertheless, a multiple NEA rendezvous mission can help the scientific community to improve our knowledge about these objects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple near-earth asteroid rendezvous mission: Solar-sailing options

Peloni

Dachwald

Ceriotti

2018

Advances in Space Research

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The scientific interest in near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and the classification of some of those as potentially hazardous for the Earth stimulated the interest in their exploration. Close-up observations of these objects will drastically increase our knowledge about the overall NEA population. For this reason, a multiple NEA rendezvous mission through solar sailing is investigated, taking advantage of the propellantless nature of this propulsion technology. Considering a spacecraft based on the DLR/ESA Gossamer technology, this work focuses on a method for searching possible sequences of NEA encounters. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated through a number of fully-optimised trajectories. The results show that it is possible to visit five NEAs within 10 years with near-term solar-sail technology. Moreover, a study on a reduced NEA database demonstrates the reliability of the approach used, showing that 58% of the sequences found with an approximated trajectory model can be converted into real feasible solar-sail trajectories. Overall, the study shows the effectiveness of the proposed automatic optimisation algorithm, which is able to find solutions for a large number of mission scenarios without any input required from the user.

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Concept of application of water electrolysis propulsion system as a component of a universal space platform for asteroid exploration mission

Shalashov

Fedorov

Vaulin

et al. 2021

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The Asteroid Redirect Mission and sustainable human exploration

Cited by 17 publications

References 4 publications

Enhanced Kinetic Impactor for Deflecting Large Potentially Hazardous Asteroids via Maneuvering Space Rocks

Enhanced Kinetic Impactor for Deflecting Large Potentially Hazardous Asteroids via Maneuvering Space Rocks

Multiple near-earth asteroid rendezvous mission: Solar-sailing options

Concept of application of water electrolysis propulsion system as a component of a universal space platform for asteroid exploration mission

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