OSIRIS-REx, bringing back a bit of an asteroid
Abstract
The OSIRIS-REx mission will provide invaluable ground-truth validation for the computer models in a case study that set out to determine the timeframe within which we must launch either a kinetic impactor or a nuclear explosive carrier and develop a conceptual design for that spacecraft. From the on-asteroid data gathered when the spacecraft touches down and, eventually, from hands-on research here on Earth, we will get a reality check for what we think we know about Bennu’s material composition (boulders, chunks, and dust), shape, mass, density, and so on. Gravimetric data could reveal whether the asteroid is hollow. Back on Earth, researchers will run various tests on the material. We may have enough information to develop a theoretical equation of state. We could then compare it to its closest match in SESAME, the Los Alamos database of equations of state. Armed with that data, we will rerun the models to see how much each scenario changes. Comparing data from the touchdown and sample return to the earlier, remotely observed data from Bennu will help us calibrate remote observations of other objects in the future. Then we can more precisely model the effects of our deflection and disruption strategies and refinemore »
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1658807
- Resource Type:
- Multimedia
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING; COMPUTER MODELS; SESAME; ASTROIDS; KINEIC IMPACTOR; NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVE CARRIER; GRAVIMETRIC DATA
Citation Formats
Plesko, Cathy. OSIRIS-REx, bringing back a bit of an asteroid. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web.
Plesko, Cathy. OSIRIS-REx, bringing back a bit of an asteroid. United States.
Plesko, Cathy. Mon .
"OSIRIS-REx, bringing back a bit of an asteroid". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1658807.
@article{osti_1658807,
title = {OSIRIS-REx, bringing back a bit of an asteroid},
author = {Plesko, Cathy},
abstractNote = {The OSIRIS-REx mission will provide invaluable ground-truth validation for the computer models in a case study that set out to determine the timeframe within which we must launch either a kinetic impactor or a nuclear explosive carrier and develop a conceptual design for that spacecraft. From the on-asteroid data gathered when the spacecraft touches down and, eventually, from hands-on research here on Earth, we will get a reality check for what we think we know about Bennu’s material composition (boulders, chunks, and dust), shape, mass, density, and so on. Gravimetric data could reveal whether the asteroid is hollow. Back on Earth, researchers will run various tests on the material. We may have enough information to develop a theoretical equation of state. We could then compare it to its closest match in SESAME, the Los Alamos database of equations of state. Armed with that data, we will rerun the models to see how much each scenario changes. Comparing data from the touchdown and sample return to the earlier, remotely observed data from Bennu will help us calibrate remote observations of other objects in the future. Then we can more precisely model the effects of our deflection and disruption strategies and refine the spacecraft design.},
doi = {},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 03 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Dec 03 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}