Sample of interesting papers from upcoming 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, to be held in Texas on March 7–11, 2011. Many papers on asteroids and only a selection are provided here (with short abstracts):
Los Alamos RAGE Hydrocode Simulations of Effective Mitigation of Porous PHO Objects [#1145]
Weaver R. P. Plesko C. S. Dearholt W. R.
We use the RAGE hydrocode to simulate surface/subsurface explosive mitigation of nonspherical asteroid models. The current simulations incorporate nonuniform composition, porosity of the object, and various depths of burial of the explosive and show effective mitigation.
Energy Deposition in Hazard Mitigation by Nuclear Burst: Sensitivity to Energy Source Characteristics, Geometry, and Target Composition [#2588]
Plesko C. S. Weaver R. P. Huebner W. F.
We present hydrocode and particle transport code models of energy deposition from nuclear bursts onto materials relevant to PHO mitigation. We find that momentum transfer is affected by burst geometry and PHO composition.
Near-Earth Asteroid Survey Precursor to Human Exploration [#1820]
Cheng A. F. Rivkin A. S. Hibbard K. Mink R. Barber B. Garvin J. Abell P. Mazanek D. Landis R.
The most urgent knowledge needed to prepare for human spaceflight to a near Earth object is the need to discover a sufficient number of suitable candidate targets. These targets can be discovered quickly and affordably by a space-based telescopic survey.
Program of Automatic Asteroid Search and Detection on Series of CCD-Images [#1140]
Savanevich V. E. Kozhukhov A. M. Bryukhovetskiy A. B. Vlasenko V. P. Dikov E. N. Ivashchenko Yu. N. Elenin L.
The paper presents a brief description of the program, which realized a new method of the finding low contrast moving objects for automatic asteroid detection by small telescopes, equipped with CCD cameras. The result of program usage is presented.
A Tool for the Visualization of Small Body Data [#1618]
Kahn E. G. Barnouin O. S. Buczkowski D. L. Ernst C. M. Izenberg N. Murchie S. Prockter L. M.
This paper describes a new software tool called the Small Body Mapping Tool that was developed to facilitate the task of searching, visualizing, and analyzing data returned from small body missions.
A Rover Simulation Tool for Small Body Exploration [#1960]
Harada T. Kitazato K. Hirata N. Demura H. Asada N.
We have developed a simulation tool of the hopping rover for small body exploration. This simulator implements physics-based computing of the rover motion and its visualization.
Albedo and Taxonomic Class Relationships of Near-Earth Objects Observed by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) [#1219]
Maleszewski C. K. Jr. Masiero J. McMillan R. S. Mainzer A. Scotti J. V. Larsen J. A. WISE Team
This poster is a status report on a project that will determine the relationship between taxonomic class and albedos of NEOs using those observed by WISE. The completion of this study will constrain the physical properties and compositions of NEOs.
Link: The 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
