[meteorite-list] CubeSats To An Asteroid (AIM)

[Ron Baalke]

http://phys.org/news/2015-11-cubesats-asteroid.html

CubeSats to an asteroid
phys.org
November 3, 2015

The five CubeSat concepts to be studied to accompany ESA's proposed Asteroid 
Impact Mission into deep space have been selected.                    

The ideas being looked at include taking a close-up look at the composition 
of the asteroid surface, measuring the gravity field, assessing the dust 
and ejecta plumes created during a collision, and landing a CubeSat for 
seismic monitoring.

The Asteroid Impact Mission, or AIM, undergoing detailed design ahead 
of a final go/no-go decision by ESA's Ministerial Council in December 
2016, is a deep-space technology-demonstration mission that would also 
be humanity's first probe to rendezvous with a double asteroid.

AIM is also set to be Europe's contribution to a larger international 
endeavour called the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission: 
the US Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) would strike the smaller 
of the two Didymos asteroids, with AIM on hand for before-and-after monitoring 
of any resulting orbital and structural shifts.

Like a Russian doll, the main AIM spacecraft would carry smaller probes 
within it: the Mascot-2 lander from the DLR German Aerospace Center, and 
an additional pair of triple-unit CubeSats.

"CubeSats are nanosatellites based on standardised 10 cm-sized units, 
which are much cheaper and simpler to build than standard satellites, 
suitable for higher-risk missions such as envisaged for AIM," explains 
Roger Walker, overseeing ESA's technology CubeSat effort.

"They would in this case be deployed in the vicinity of the asteroid during 
the DART impact.

"Usually, CubeSats offer an easy means of scientists to launch their experiments 
into low-Earth orbit. But with AIM we are giving European research teams 
the chance to design instruments based on the CubeSat standard for deep 
space, to do specialised scientific work that will complement AIM's main 
science goals.

"CubeSat hardware is easy for this community to access and adapt to their 
needs. It's like taking inexpensive building kits to do top-notch science."

"We put out a call for ideas for these CubeSat Opportunity Payloads through 
the SysNova initiative of ESA's General Studies Programme," says Andrés 
Galvez, Head of the Science Analysis and System Support Unit, which looks 
at how new instruments could be used in planned space missions.

 "Through SysNova we set technology challenges to get competing concepts 
we can then assess in detail ahead of making a final choice.

"There were a large number of proposals to the call and teams variously 
put forward concepts involving either one or two triple-unit CubeSats. 
We were very pleased by the response and the diversity of scientific missions 
put forward with such small satellites."

The selected proposals will now be funded by ESA for detailed study, ahead 
of a final selection to fill the two berths in June next year.
	
o AGEX (Royal Observatory of Belgium, ISAE-SUPAERO, Antwerp Space, EMXYS, 
Asteroid Initiatives Ltd). A CubeSat touches down to assess the surface 
material, surface gravity, subsurface structure and of the DART impact 
effects. Another CubeSat in orbit deploys smaller 'chipsats' dispersed 
over the asteroid.

o ASPECT (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, University of Helsinki, 
Aalto University Foundation). A CubeSat equipped with a near-infrared 
spectrometer to assess the asteroid composition and effects of space weathering 
and metamorphic shock, as well as post-impact plume observations.

o DustCube (University of Vigo, Micos Engineering GmbH, University of 
Bologna). A CubeSat to measure the size, shape and concentration of fine 
dust ejected in the aftermath of the collision and its evolution over 
time.

o CUBATA (GMV, Sapienza University of Rome, INTA). Two CubeSats measure 
the asteroid system's gravity field pre- and post-impact through Doppler 
tracking of CubeSats, as well as performing close range imaging of the 
impact event.

o PALS (Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Institute for Space Sciences 
IEEC, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, AAC Microtec, DLR). Two CubeSats 
characterise the magnetisation, bulk chemical composition and presence 
of volatiles of the impact ejecta, as well as perform very high resolution 
imaging of the ejecta components.

With these opportunity payloads, ESA is applying current European technology 
miniaturisation efforts to explore our wider Solar System in unprecedented 
ways, lowering the cost and risk of interplanetary missions.