This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects (NEOs) including concepts and designs for mitigation. All opinions are those of the author.

25 January 2007

2007 AIAA Student Design Competition on Apophis Assay Mission

The 2007 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition, basically an American design competition resulting in a 50-100 page reports from various teams, will focus on a mineral assay of an asteroid, specifically on Apophis.

Abstract:
"An internet billionaire has offered a prize of $250 million and a share of any profits to the first team that makes a mineral assay of an asteroid, or asteroids. NASA has also agreed to contribute $250 million for the information in the assay if the asteroid chosen is Apophis. Your mission is to design a mission that will fly to Apophis, conduct an assay and scientific characterization of the asteroid, return the information to Earth, and do it for under a total cost of $500 million, including launcher. The mission includes a conceptual design of the spacecraft and payload, selection of a launch vehicle, and description of the mission plan."

Link to AIAA Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition


Link to Request for Proposal (RFP)

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