9th IAA PLANETARY DEFENSE CONFERENCE 2025

Keywords: Gravity Tractor, Slow-pull Mitigation Technique, Binary Asteroids, Mission Concepts

There are a number of possible mitigation strategies that have been identified in the event a hazardous asteroid is discovered. NASA’s DART mission recently demonstrated the kinetic impactor technique [1]. The gravity tractor (GT) is attractive as the next technology for demonstration since other...

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was a successful planetary defense demonstration of a kinetic impactor on Dimorphos, the satellite of binary near-Earth asteroid 63803 Didymos (Daly et al. 2023). The DART impact changed not only the orbit of the satellite Dimorphos about Didymos (Thomas et al. 2023), but also the orbit of the Didymos system about the Sun (Makadia et al....

Several techniques may be appropriate for deflecting a threatening asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Slow-push techniques, such as gravity tractors, require long lead times. Fast-push techniques such as nuclear standoff bursts require much less lead time but come with a host of additional issues. Kinetic impactors are an alternative fast-push technique that can be used on...

The vast majority of asteroids that pose a threat to Earth have a complex distribution of porosity due to their rubble-pile configuration. As of right now the only proven method for deflecting these potentially hazardous bodies is to use a kinetic impactor, as was demonstrated by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. Kinetic impacts change the momentum of the target asteroid...

HYPERVELOCITY CRATRING AND DISRUPTION OF THREE L-TYPE ORDINARY CHONDRITES

George J. Flynn(1), Melissa Strait(2), Daniel Durda(3) and Robert Macke(4)
1Dept. of Physics, SUNY-Plattsburgh, 101 Broad St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901 USA (01-518-564-3163, flynngj@plattsburgh.edu),
2Dept. of Chemistry, Alma College, Alma, MI 48801 USA (straitm@alma.edu),
3SwRI, 1050 Walnut St., S-300, Boulder CO...

In an idealized mitigation scenario, one would strive for threat interception to occur as far away–in both space and time–from Earth as possible. However, reality may make such a desirable outcome improbable to impossible, due to hurdles like uncertainty in the threat's characteristics or lack of time for preparation. In a scenario where extended warning time and preparation are out of reach,...

Certain planetary defense scenarios may require the use of nuclear explosive devices (NEDs) for successful mitigation [1]. Planning for these scenarios use engineering models derived from hydrocode simulations, themselves built upon models of x-ray energy deposition in asteroid material [2]. Recent work [3] has advanced the state-of-the-art in energy deposition modeling using...

This study presents a groundbreaking experiment that explores the deflection of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) using x-rays generated from a stand-off nuclear explosion for deflecting the largest NEOs or for short impact warning times. Conducted at the Z Machine at Sandia National Laboratories, our innovative approach utilized an intense x-ray burst produced by an argon plasma, targeting miniature...

Planetary defense mitigation attempts require significant advanced mission planning and simulation. The modeling work is conducted using hydrodynamics codes and equation of state data (Barbee et al., 2018). The results of these pre-launch simulations are used in mission planning to predict targeting and timing requirements and to quantify the energy and delivery mechanism required to deflect...

Keywords: Nuclear mitigation modeling, deflection, disruption, hydrocode

Asteroid impacts are serious natural disasters that may result in regional to global damage depending on the object’s mass and incoming velocity. However, with adequate preparation time, we may be able to prevent impacts from happening. One such mitigation method is the “kinetic impactor” method, which involves...