Asteroid impacts, though infrequent, have the potential for catastrophic consequences. Space missions offer the possibility of averting such disasters, provided there is adequate warning time and decisive action. Successfully mitigating a potential asteroid impact relies on decision-makers swiftly comprehending the complex mission space and committing to a course of action with enough time for...
Keywords: Planetary Defense, Flyby, Spacecraft Reconnaissance, Near-Earth Object
International and U.S. strategies have identified the need to develop spacecraft reconnaissance capabilities as a priority to advance planetary defense readiness. The UN-endorsed Space Mission Planning Advisory Group and the US Report on Near-Earth Object Impact Threat Emergency Protocols recommend planning a...
Thanks to the success of NASA's DART mission, the Kinetic Impact (KI) method is the only tested way of deflecting Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) away from the Earth [1]. However, one important consideration with KI deflections is the potential of disrupting the target while trying to deflect it. A disruption can happen if the NEA is small or if the relative impact momentum of the deflection...
The discovery of a new Near-Earth Object (NEO) with a significant probability of impacting the Earth will inevitably lead to threat mitigation strategies. Three key questions for threat mitigation are: (i) what is the probability that the object impacts the Earth?; (ii) Is the object large enough to threaten loss of life or property?; and (iii) what are the key characteristics of the object...
The 2023 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey on Planetary Science and Astrobiology lists several key questions regarding the collisional, dynamical, and physical evolution of small body populations in the solar system. Among those objects are Temporarily Captured Orbiters (TCOs), a subset of near-Earth objects (NEOs) that enter the Earth-Moon system and...
As part of the ALCOR program, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) is funding the "Asteroid Nodal Intersection Multiple Encounters (ANIME)" CubeSat mission, which successfully completed Phase A in 2024. The aim is to develop a 12U CubeSat tailored for the exploration of multiple near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) encountered during their transits through their orbital nodes.
ANIME's baseline mission...
The lessons of reusing and repurposing mission assets are relevant to Planetary Defense and Small Body Science objectives, as expressed in the most recent decadal survey for Planetary Science and Astrobiology. As described in [1], the European Service Module (ESM), the element of NASA’s Artemis Program that returns the Orion Crew Module to Earth (Figure), currently is planned for destruction...
A mission to NEA (99942) Apophis would provide a unique opportunity to collect and return a regolith sample from a NEA as it passes very close to Earth. ESA is currently investigating the possibility of an orbiter, as part of the RAMSES mission study, to fly close to (99942) Apophis before it makes its closest approach to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, with the aim of observing the tidal...
Introduction. The Milo Space Science Institute, a nonprofit entity co-founded by Arizona State University (ASU) and Lockheed Martin (LM), in partnership with the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU), aims to conduct a pioneering reconnaissance flyby of (99942) Apophis approximately 1 year before its close approach to Earth in April 2029. The mission, called Apophis Pathfinder, would...
On the 13th of April 2029, Apophis, a 400 meter asteroid, will pass within 31 600 km of Earth’s surface in a retrograde orbit, moving through the magnetosphere and encountering the outer radiation belt, ring current, and outer edges of the plasmasphere. Therefore, this event offers a fantastic opportunity to investigate how small scale airless bodies interact with Earth’s magnetosphere.
The...
Ion-Beam (IB) deflection is one of three primary mitigation techniques evaluated for use in the 2025 PDC hypothetical asteroid impact exercise. Unlike the other two techniques, Kinetic Impactors (KI) and the use of Nuclear Explosive Devices (NEDs), the ion-beam option is a gentle, slow-push method that, over the course of months to years, can change an asteroid trajectory significantly without...