CASTAway: An asteroid main belt tour and survey

TY - JOUR

T1 - CASTAway

T2 - An asteroid main belt tour and survey

AU - Bowles, Neil

AU - Snodgrass, C.

AU - Gibbings, Alison

AU - Sanchez, J. A.

AU - Arnold, J.A.

AU - Eccleston, P.

AU - Anderton, T.

AU - Probst, A.

AU - Naletto, G.

AU - Vandaele, A.C.

AU - de Leon, J.

AU - Nathues, A.

AU - Thomas, I.R.

AU - Thomas, N.

AU - Jorda, Lucia

AU - Da Deppo, V.

AU - Haack, H.

AU - Green, S.F.

AU - Carry, B.

AU - Donaldson Hanna, K.L.

AU - Jørgensen, J. Leif

AU - Kereszturi, A

AU - DeMeo, F.E.

AU - Patel, Manesh R

AU - Davies, John K

AU - Clarke, Francis M

AU - Kinch, Kjartan Münster

AU - Guilbert-Lepoutre, A.

AU - Agarwal, J.

AU - Rivkin, A.S.

AU - Pravec, P.

AU - Fornasier, S.

AU - Granvik, M.

AU - Jones, R.H.

AU - Murdoch, N.

AU - Joy, K.H.

AU - Pascale, E.

AU - Tecza, M.

AU - Barnes, J.M.

AU - Tosh, I.

PY - 2018/10/15

Y1 - 2018/10/15

N2 - CASTAway is a mission concept to explore our Solar System's main asteroid belt. Asteroids and comets provide a window into the formation and evolution of our Solar System and the composition of these objects can be inferred from space-based remote sensing using spectroscopic techniques. Variations in composition across the asteroid populations provide a tracer for the dynamical evolution of the Solar System. The mission combines a long-range (point source) telescopic survey of over 10,000 objects, targeted close encounters with 10–20 asteroids and serendipitous searches to constrain the distribution of smaller (e.g. 10 m) size objects into a single concept. With a carefully targeted trajectory that loops through the asteroid belt, CASTAway would provide a comprehensive survey of the main belt at multiple scales. The scientific payload comprises a 50 cm diameter telescope that includes an integrated low-resolution (R = 30–100) spectrometer and visible context imager, a thermal (e.g. 6–16 µm) imager for use during the flybys, and modified star tracker cameras to detect small (∼10 m) asteroids. The CASTAway spacecraft and payload have high levels of technology readiness and are designed to fit within the programmatic and cost caps for a European Space Agency medium class mission, while delivering a significant increase in knowledge of our Solar System.

AB - CASTAway is a mission concept to explore our Solar System's main asteroid belt. Asteroids and comets provide a window into the formation and evolution of our Solar System and the composition of these objects can be inferred from space-based remote sensing using spectroscopic techniques. Variations in composition across the asteroid populations provide a tracer for the dynamical evolution of the Solar System. The mission combines a long-range (point source) telescopic survey of over 10,000 objects, targeted close encounters with 10–20 asteroids and serendipitous searches to constrain the distribution of smaller (e.g. 10 m) size objects into a single concept. With a carefully targeted trajectory that loops through the asteroid belt, CASTAway would provide a comprehensive survey of the main belt at multiple scales. The scientific payload comprises a 50 cm diameter telescope that includes an integrated low-resolution (R = 30–100) spectrometer and visible context imager, a thermal (e.g. 6–16 µm) imager for use during the flybys, and modified star tracker cameras to detect small (∼10 m) asteroids. The CASTAway spacecraft and payload have high levels of technology readiness and are designed to fit within the programmatic and cost caps for a European Space Agency medium class mission, while delivering a significant increase in knowledge of our Solar System.

U2 - 10.1016/j.asr.2017.10.021

DO - 10.1016/j.asr.2017.10.021

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0273-1177

VL - 62

SP - 1998

EP - 2025

JO - Advances in Space Research

JF - Advances in Space Research

IS - 8

ER -