[meteorite-list] ESA's AIDA Mission Now Has A Target: Asteroid Didymos

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:19:47 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201302231919.r1NJJlL4024063_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.esa.int/About_Us/GSP/Asteroid_impact_mission_targets_Didymos

ESA's AIDA mission now has a target: asteroid Didymos
European Space Agency
22 February 2013

ESA's proposed Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission now has a target:
asteroid Didymos. The recent Russian meteor and, on the same day, our planet's
close encounter with an even larger chunk of celestial debris underline the need
for us to learn more about these high-speed space rocks.

For the last two years, ESA has been working with international partners on the
mission concept, dubbed AIDA. Last week, research centres each side of the Atlantic
agreed the spacecraft would target asteroid Didymos.

Currently under study, the mission would intercept Didymos around the time of the
asteroid's closest approach to within 11 million km of Earth in 2022.

Didymos is a "binary", with two asteroids orbiting each other - one is roughly
800 m across, the other about 150 m.

AIDA is a low-budget international effort that would send two small craft to
intercept a double target. While one probe smashes into the smaller asteroid at
around 6.25 km/s, the other records what happens.

One effect would be a change in the orbital ballet of the two objects. AIDA is not
intended to show how we could deflect an asteroid that threatens Earth but it would
be a first step. Didymos with its moon

The craft are conceived to be independent and could achieve most of their goals
alone. The collider is the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, from the
Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory in the US. ESA's Asteroid Impact
Monitor, or AIM, would survey Didymos in detail, before and after the collision.

Didymos poses no risk to our planet, but will come close enough to be observable by
1-2 m-diameter telescopes on Earth before and after the strike. AIM's close-up view
would provide "ground truth" and observe the impact dynamics as well as the
resulting crater, allowing ground-based observations and models to be evaluated.

Earlier this month, ESA issued a call for scientists to propose experiments that
could be carried on the mission or performed on the ground to increase
its return.

"AIDA is not just an asteroid mission, it is also meant as a research platform open
to all different mission users," says Andres Galvez, ESA studies manager.

"The project has value in many areas," agrees Andy Cheng, AIDA lead at Johns Hopkins'
Applied Physics Laboratory, "from applied science and exploration to asteroid
resource utilisation."

Researchers have until 15 March to express their interest. The experiment ideas can
be anything that deals with hypervelocity impacts, planetary science,
planetary defence, human exploration or innovation in spacecraft operations.

The energy released in the AIDA impact at several kilometres per second is
similar to that of a large piece of space junk hitting a satellite. The
mission would thus help to model severe spacecraft damage by space debris.


Asteroid Impact Monitor design

"It is an exciting opportunity to do world-leading research of all kinds on a problem
that is out of this world," says Stephan Ulamec from the DLR German Aerospace Center.
"And it helps us learn how to work together in international missions tackling the
asteroid impact hazard."

"A mission such as this allows us to test technologies before any asteroid is
identified as a threat," explains Patrick Michel, leader of the Planetology team at
the Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur (OCA, Lagrange Laboratory) and a member of the
Working Group on Near-Earth Objects of the International Astronomical Union.

"Understanding the physics of impacts is also key to planetary science and binary
asteroid dynamics."

For further information, please contact:

Andres Galvez
ESA
General Studies Programme manager
Future Preparation and Strategic Studies Office
ESA Headquarters, Paris, France
Email: Andres.Galvez[_at_]esa.int

AIDA is a project with a strong international component. Together with the
20-nation ESA and the US JHU/APL, experts from the French OCA, the DLR
German Aerospace Center and several NASA centres (Johnson Space Center,
Langley Research Centre and Goddard Space Flight Center) are participating
in the mission definition. A dedicated workshop on this and related projects
will be held as part of the Planetary Defence Conference in Flagstaff,
Arizona, USA on 19 April, where the results of the call for experiment
ideas will be presented.

The two components of the AIDA mission are funded throughout their study phases.
DART is supported by a NASA contract, while AIM mission studies are paid for by
ESA's General Studies Programme.
Received on Sat 23 Feb 2013 02:19:47 PM PST