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.

21 August 2011

Paper: Orbital dispersion and Earth-impact probability analysis for fragmented asteroids

A new paper from Lee, et al called "Orbital dispersion and Earth-impact probability analysis for fragmented asteroids".

PAPER REFERENCE:

Orbital dispersion and Earth-impact probability analysis for fragmented asteroids 

Authors: Daero Lee(a), John E. Cochran Jr.(b), and Tas Soo No(c)
a. Wind Power Grid-Adaptive Technology Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 560-756, Republic of Korea
b. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
c. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 560-756, Republic of Korea
Received 10 November 2010; revised 21 March 2011; accepted 25 May 2011. Available online 1 June 2011.

Abstract:This paper describes the orbital dispersion problem for a fragmented asteroid in an elliptical orbit. The use of a state transition matrix derived from the general relative equation of motion for an elliptical orbit is emphasized in this paper. The state transition matrix is used to propagate the orbital dispersion. The Earth-impact probability is then computed to obtain a measure of the likelihood of impact with the Earth after the asteroid is fragmented with a high-energy fragmentation method. The state transition matrix approach is also compared with numerical integration approaches that use the two-body equation and the general relative equations of motion. The computational efficiency of such a state transition matrix approach is verified with accuracy equal to the numerical integration approaches. The employed state transition matrix, known as the Cochran, Lee and Jo (CLJ) state transition matrix, is also evaluated for the numerous fragments with data from the burst.

Link: Paper (Reference)
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