A rendezvous with asteroid Bennu

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous: Mission Summary

On February 14, 2000, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft (NEAR Shoemaker) began the first orbital study of an asteroid, the near-Earth object 433 Eros. Almost a year later, on February 12, 2001, NEAR Shoemaker completed its mission by landing on the asteroid and acquiring data from its surface. NEAR Shoemaker’s intensive study has found an average density of 2.67 ± 0.03, almost unifo...

The Laser Rangefinder on the near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Spacecraft

In 1999, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission will place a spacecraft with five facility instruments, including the NEAR Laser Rangefinder (NLR), into a low-altitude (-50 km) orbit about the asteroid 433 Eros. The NLR is a high-fidelity altimeter capable of 3 1.5cm resolution and c2-m accuracy, and will be operate-d continuously while at Eros. The NLR design is quite robust and is ...

Surface thermophysical properties determination of OSIRIS-REx target asteroid (101955) Bennu

In this work, we investigate the thermophysical properties of OSIRIS-REx target asteroid (101955) Bennu (hereafter Bennu), where thermal inertia plays an important role in understanding the nature of the asteroid’s surface, and will definitely provide substantial information for the sampling return mission. Using a thermophysical model incorporating, the recently updated 3D radar-derived shape ...

A collision avoidance strategy for a potential natural satellite around the asteroid Bennu for the OSIRIS-REx mission

The cadence of proximity operations for the OSIRIS-REx mission may have an extra induced challenge given the potential of the detection of a natural satellite orbiting the asteroid Bennu. Current ground radar observations for object detection orbiting Bennu show no found objects within bounds of specific size and rotation rates. If a natural satellite is detected during approach, a different pr...

Solar Sail Trajectory Design for a Multiple Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission