Abstract
A growing interest in small body exploration has motivated research into the rapid characterization of near-Earth objects to meet economic or scientific objectives. Specifically, knowledge of the internal density structure can aid with target selection and enables an understanding of prehistoric planetary formation to be developed. To this end, multi-layer extensions to the polyhedral gravity model are suggested, and an inversion technique is implemented to present their effectiveness. On-orbit gravity gradiometry is simulated and employed in stochastic and deterministic algorithms, with results that imply robustness in both cases.
Highlights
Exploratory missions to small, unknown celestial bodies are limited in their ability to adequately characterize and investigate the resource potential of a body of interest
Driven by the need for scientific exploration and considering our economic interest, the proposed strategy utilizes a swarm of SmallSats to address specific strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs), enabling resource investigation and acting as a precursor to human exploration
This paper proposes a new technique for small body gravimetry and analysis
Summary
Exploratory missions to small, unknown celestial bodies are limited in their ability to adequately characterize and investigate the resource potential of a body of interest. Limited knowledge of the physical characteristics of NEOs, such as their shape, density, gravity field, and composition, poses a challenge to any manned exploration. A swarm of small probes, deployed from the primary spacecraft, performs flybys of the celestial object, enabling high-fidelity, in-situ gravimetry measurements by the chief. These measurements are used to construct a gravity model, which can be used for model-predictive control [1], or, as is the topic of this paper, obtaining information about the internal structure of the body
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
