Misc. New Journal Articles: NEO, Resource Law, NEOimpactor (modeling NEO impact consequence), Orion CEV-based Human NEO Mission, OpenOrb (Open-Source Orbital Simulation), NEO IR Observatory Design

Pella vilya: Near earth objects—Planetary defence through the regulation of resource utilisation

Reference:
Acta Astronautica

Authors:
Gérardine Meishan Goh (a)
(a) Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Bonn, Germany/Institute of Air and Space Law, University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract:
Reactions to near earth objects (NEOs) in the past decade have run the gamut from expectations of Armageddon-type scenarios to Eureka moments of revolutionary scientific ideas. Concerns over the potentially devastating effects of an unmitigated collision jostle with forecasts of untold economic returns from the utilisation of NEO resources. Drawing from recent analogies and examples from the field of international environmental law, this paper proposes the development of a legal framework for the regulation of NEO resource utilisation. The proposed legal framework also includes a mechanism to ensure the political will and economic investment necessary for technological advances in planetary defence. By twinning the threats and opportunities presented by NEOs, this paper also analyses the position of theme-specific space law development in the overall legal framework of space exploration and traffic management.

Link: Journal Reference

Global vulnerability to near-Earth object impact

Reference:
Risk Management (2010) 12, 31–53.

Authors:
Nicholas J Bailey(a), Graham G Swinerd(a), Hugh G Lewis(a) and Richard Crowther(b)
1. (a)Astronautics Research Group, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. 2. (b)Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0QX, UK

Abstract:
A clear appreciation of the consequences resulting from an asteroid impact is required in order to understand the near-Earth object (NEO) hazard. Three main processes require modelling to analyse the entire impact event. These are the atmospheric entry phase, land impact events and ocean impact events. A range of impact generated effects (IGEs) are produced by different impact scenarios. It is these IGEs that present the threat to human populations worldwide, and the infrastructure they utilise. A software system for analysing the NEO threat has been developed, entitled NEOimpactor, to examine the social and economic consequences from land and ocean impacts. Existing mathematical models for the three principal impact processes have been integrated into one complete system, which has the capability to model the various effects of a terrestrial asteroid impact and, critically, predict the consequences for the global population and infrastructure. Analysis of multiple impact simulations provides a robust method for the provision of an integrated, global vulnerability assessment of the NEO hazard. The primary graphical outputs from NEOimpactor are in the form of ‘relative consequence’ maps, and these have been designed to be comprehensible to a non-specialist audience. By the use of a series of multiple-impact simulations, the system has identified the five countries most at risk from the impact hazard, as well as indicating the various factors influencing vulnerability.

Link: Journal Article

Scientific exploration of near-Earth objects via the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle

Reference:
Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Volume 44 Issue 12, Pages 1825 - 1836
Published Online: 26 Feb 2010

Authors:
Paul A. Abell(1, 2, *,) David J. Korsmeyer(3), Rob R. Landis(3), Thomas D. Jones(4), Daniel R. Adamo(5), David D. Morrison(6), Lawrence G. Lemke(7), Andrew A. Gonzales(7), Robert Gershman(8), Theodore H. Sweetser(8), Lindley L. Johnson(9) and Ed Lu(10)
1Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, USA 2Planetary Science Institute, 1700 E. Fort Lowell, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA 3Intelligent Systems Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA 4Association of Space Explorers, 1150 Gemini Avenue, Houston, Texas 77058, USA 5Trajectory Consultant, 4203 Moonlight Shadow Court, Houston, Texas 77059, USA 6NASA Astrobiology Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA 7NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA 8Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California 91109, USA 9Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. 20546, USA 10Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043, USA

Abstract:
Abstract—A study in late 2006 was sponsored by the Advanced Projects Office within NASA's Constellation Program to examine the feasibility of sending the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to a near-Earth object (NEO). The ideal mission profile would involve two or three astronauts on a 90 to 180 day flight, which would include a 7 to 14 day stay for proximity operations at the target NEO. This mission would be the first human expedition to an interplanetary body beyond the Earth-Moon system and would prove useful for testing technologies required for human missions to Mars and other solar system destinations. Piloted missions to NEOs using the CEV would undoubtedly provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration while conducting in-depth scientific investigations of these primitive objects. The main scientific advantage of sending piloted missions to NEOs would be the flexibility of the crew to perform tasks and to adapt to situations in real time. A crewed vehicle would be able to test several different sample collection techniques and target specific areas of interest via extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) more efficiently than robotic spacecraft. Such capabilities greatly enhance the scientific return from these missions to NEOs, destinations vital to understanding the evolution and thermal histories of primitive bodies during the formation of the early solar system. Data collected from these missions would help constrain the suite of materials possibly delivered to the early Earth, and would identify potential source regions from which NEOs originate. In addition, the resulting scientific investigations would refine designs for future extraterrestrial resource extraction and utilization, and assist in the development of hazard mitigation techniques for planetary defense.

Link: Journal Article

OpenOrb: Open-source asteroid orbit computation software including statistical ranging

Reference:
Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Volume 44 Issue 12, Pages 1853 - 1861
Published Online: 26 Feb 2010

Authors:
Mikael Granvik(1, 1), Jenni Virtanen(2), *, Dagmara Oszkiewicz(3) and Karri Muinonen(4) 1Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822, USA 2Finnish Geodetic Institute, P.O. Box 15, 02431 Masala, Finland 3Observatory, P.O. Box 14, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland 4Observatory, P.O. Box 14, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland, Finnish Geodetic Institute, P.O. Box 15, 02431 Masala, Finland

Abstract:
We are making an open-source asteroid orbit computation software package called OpenOrb publicly available. OpenOrb is built on a well-established Bayesian inversion theory, which means that it is to a large part complementary to orbit-computation packages currently available. In particular, OpenOrb is the first package that contains tools for rigorously estimating the uncertainties resulting from the inverse problem of computing orbital elements using scarce astrometry. In addition to the well-known least-squares method, OpenOrb also contains both Monte-Carlo (MC) and Markov-Chain MC (MCMC; Oszkiewicz et al. [2009]) versions of the statistical ranging method. Ranging allows the user to obtain sampled, non-Gaussian orbital-element probability-density functions and is therefore optimized for cases where the amount of astrometry is scarce or spans a relatively short time interval. Ranging-based methods have successfully been applied to a variety of different problems such as rigorous ephemeris prediction, orbital element distribution studies for transneptunian objects, the computation of invariant collision probabilities between near-Earth objects and the Earth, detection of linkages between astrometric asteroid observations within an apparition as well as between apparitions, and in the rigorous analysis of the impact of orbital arc length and/or astrometric uncertainty on the uncertainty of the resulting orbits. Tools for making ephemeris predictions and for classifying objects based on their orbits are also available in OpenOrb. As an example, we use OpenOrb in the search for candidate retrograde and/or high-inclination objects similar to 2008 KV42 in the known population of transneptunian objects that have an observational time span shorter than 30 days.

Link: Journal Article

NEO Survey: An Efficient Search for Near-Earth Objects by an IR Observatory in a Venus-like Orbit

Reference:
AIP Conf. Proc. -- January 28, 2010 -- Volume 1208, pp. 418-429
SPACE, PROPULSION & ENERGY SCIENCES INTERNATIONAL FORMUM SPESIF-2010

Authors:

Robert Arentz,(a) Harold Reitsema,(a) Jeffrey Van Cleve,(b) and Roger Linfield(a)
aBall Aerospace & Technologies Corp., 1600 Commerce St., Boulder, CO 80301
bSETI Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, NS 244-30, Room 107G, Moffett Field, CA 94035

Abstract:
In 2003 NASA commissioned a Science Definition Team (SDT) (Stokes, et al., 2003) to study the threats posed by Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), recommend efficient methods for detecting NEOs down to 140 meters in diameter, and suggest conceptual mitigation techniques. In this same time frame, Congress set the goal of cataloguing 90% of all NEOs down to 140 meters diameter by 2020. The SDT concluded that the infrared passband from ~5 to ~11 microns is the best for finding NEOs; that an aperture of 50 centimeters is sufficient; and that locating a NEO-finding observatory in a Venus-like orbit is ideal. Since then, NASA and its industrial partners (such as Ball Aerospace) have flown two very NEO-relevant deep-space missions—the Spitzer Space Telescope and Kepler. Herein, a high-reliability, credibly-costed design is presented based on Spitzer and Kepler that meets the 90%/140-m/2020 requirements for about $600 M. This design will also detect about 85% of all >100 meter NEOs, about 70% of all >65 meter NEOs, and about 50% of all >50 meter NEOs. These smaller NEOs constitute a newly recognized threat regime that cannot be efficiently found from the ground.

Link: Journal Article