[meteorite-list] NASA Asking For Ideas About Asteroid Detectors

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:45:23 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201208291545.q7TFjNGl004806_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1208/28asteroids/

NASA asking for ideas about asteroid detectors
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
August 28, 2012

NASA is studying the placement of an instrument on a commercial or U.S.
government communications satellite to detect and track asteroids near
Earth for potential human visits.

The space agency has released a request for information seeking ideas
for a sensor to discover a hypothesized set of asteroids very near
Earth, opening the possibility for exploration by future astronaut crews.

Instead of funding a dedicated spacecraft to survey asteroid
populations, NASA is considering a piggyback instrument on a satellite
in geosynchronous orbit, a perch more than 22,000 miles above the
equator tailored for communications missions.

The request for information will supply NASA officials with information
on what options exist to obtain data on asteroids near Earth, objects
which would be easiest to reach on a human expedition.

NASA is planning a crewed mission to an asteroid in the 2020s, but
officials have not selected a destination yet for the first voyage.
Spacecraft bound for asteroids near Earth would require less fuel to
complete their missions.

Scientists are also looking for Earth-Trojan asteroids, which share
Earth's orbit and circle the sun either behind or ahead of the planet.
NASA's WISE infrared space telescope discovered the first Earth-Trojan
asteroid in 2010.

Earth-Trojan asteroids are difficult to find because they appear close
to the sun and are often only visible in daylight.

Respondents should offer instrument solutions ready for launch as soon
as 2016, costing less than $50 million, and capable of operating for at
least five years, according to the RFI.

NASA is asking for instrument concepts which could find asteroids as
small as 30 meters, or about 100 feet, across.

A dedicated spacecraft for near-Earth asteroid detection would cost much
more than a hosted instrument on a communications satellite, according
to scientists. Another, more costly way to detect near-Earth asteroids
would be to dispatch a telescope to be stationed near the orbit of Venus
looking back toward Earth, and away from the sun.

"The instrument would point outward from Earth and must be capable of
detecting near-Earth asteroids in very Earth-like orbits, and capable of
detecting asteroids of as little as 30 meters in diameter," officials
wrote in the RFI. "Additional factors of interest include the ability to
quantify spin rate and calculate the size and shape of detected asteroids."

Scientists must respond to the RFI by Sept. 17.
Received on Wed 29 Aug 2012 11:45:23 AM PDT