Small Bodies Tell the Story of the Solar System: A Rationale for a Small Body Sample Return Program including Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples

AbstractThe last thirty years of cosmochemistry and planetary science have shown that one major Solar System reservoir is vastly undersampled in the available suite of extra-terrestrial materials, namely small bodies that formed in the outer Solar System (>10 AU). Because various dynamical evolutionary processes have modified their initial orbits (e.g., giant planet migration, resonances), these objects can be found today across the entire Solar System as P/D near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter and Neptune Trojans, comets, Centaurs, and small (diameter < 200 km) trans-Neptunian objects. This reservoir is of tremendous interest, as it is recognized as the least processed since the dawn of the Solar System and thus the closest to the starting materials from which the Solar System formed. Some of the next major breakthroughs in planetary science will come from studying outer Solar System samples (volatiles and refractory constituents) in the laboratory. Yet, this can only be achieved by an L-class mission that directly collects and returns to Earth materials from this reservoir. It is thus not surprising that two White Papers advocating a sample return mission of a primitive Solar System small body (ideally a comet) were submitted to ESA in response to its Voyage 2050 call for ideas for future L-class missions in the 2035-2050 time frame. One of these two White Papers is presented in this article.

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Sample return of primitive matter from the outer Solar System

10.5194/epsc2020-10 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Pierre Vernazza ◽

Pierre Beck

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Small Body ◽

Giant Planet ◽

Small Diameter ◽

Time Frame ◽

Planetary Science ◽

Outer Solar System ◽

Small Bodies ◽

Sample Return ◽

Solar System Small Bodies

The last thirty years of cosmochemistry and planetary science have shown that one major Solar System reservoir is vastly undersampled in the available suite of extra-terrestrial materials, namely small bodies that formed in the outer Solar System (>10AU). Because various dynamical evolutionary processes have modified their initial orbits (e.g., giant planet migration, resonances), these objects can be found today across the entire Solar System as P/D near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter and Neptune Trojans, comets, Centaurs, and small (diameter <200km) trans-Neptunian objects. This reservoir is of tremendous interest, as it is recognized as the least processed since the dawn of the Solar System and thus the closest to the starting materials from which the Solar System formed. Some of the next major breakthroughs in planetary science will come from studying outer Solar System samples (volatiles and refractory constituents) in the laboratory. Yet, this can only be achieved by an L-class mission that directly collects and returns to Earth materials from this reservoir. It is thus not surprising that two white papers advocating a sample return mission of a primitive Solar System small body (ideally a comet) were submitted to ESA in response to its call for ideas for future L-class missions in the 2035-2050 time frame. I will present an overview of the ideas listed in one of these two white papers and discuss how such a mission would be complementary to current and future ground based observations of primitive Solar System small bodies.

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Small body exploration in China

10.5194/epsc2020-1126 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jiangchuan Huang ◽

Xiaojing Zhang ◽

Tong Wang ◽

Zhuoxi Huo ◽

Xian Shi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Design Research ◽

Small Body ◽

Measurement Data ◽

Main Belt ◽

Small Bodies ◽

Asteroid Exploration ◽

Full Picture ◽

Exploration Mission ◽

And Migration

The past twenty years have seen an evolution in the definition and categorization of small bodies in the Solar System. While new types of bodies are being discovered at an increasing pace, objects familiar to us have been rediscovered with traits previously unknown, resulting in &#8220;hybrid&#8221; bodies like &#8220;Main-belt comets&#8221; or &#8220;active asteroids&#8221; [1]. New knowledges of small bodies are essential to further our understanding of the solar system as they directly shed light on planetary formation and evolution scenarios, the distribution and migration of water, and the emergence of life. To get a full picture of these small bodies, it is necessary to carry out detailed and comprehensive investigations, especially with dedicated space missions. As demonstrated by the success of a number of such missions recently completed and ongoing, a growing consensus is emerging that future missions should: 1) cover a diversity of targets, especially those never visited before; 2) characterize the structure and composition of the target body with highest possible resolution. The first Chinese small body mission is designed to take on both challenges by performing sample return from a quasi-satellite of the Earth&#8212;2016 HO3 and visiting for the first time a &#8220;main-belt comet&#8221;--133P/Elst-Pizarro. <a name="_GoBack"></a>In April 2019, CNSA released an open call of onboard opportunity for an asteroid exploration mission [2]&#65292;which encourages international cooperation. This asteroid exploration mission is characterized by multi-task, multi-target and multi-mode (e. g. joint exploration by multiple devices, landing and sampling etc.). On the basis of feasibility demonstration, design research and key techniques research, various work of the mission is currently in progress, such as the scientific research of small celestial particles, that is, combining remote sensing and surface in-situ measurement data and features of different scales (sub-millimeter to decimeter) to obtain clues of composition and evolution of small bodies. &#160; [1] Hsieh, Henry H., David C. Jewitt, and Yanga R. Fern&#225;ndez. The Astronomical Journal 127(5):2997. (2004). [2] http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758839/c6805886/part/6780392.pdf

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Solar System: A Tethered Orbit Insertion and Landing Concept for Small Body Exploration

AIAA SPACE 2015 Conference and Exposition ◽

10.2514/6.2015-4567 ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Masahiro Ono ◽

David Jewitt ◽

Marco B. Quadrelli ◽

Gregory Lantoine ◽

Paul Backes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Small Body ◽

System A ◽

Orbit Insertion

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Concepts of the Small Body Sample Return Missions - the 1st 10 Million Year Evolution of the Solar System

Space Science Reviews ◽

10.1007/s11214-020-00670-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 216 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Yangting Lin ◽

Yonghe Zhang ◽

Sen Hu ◽

Yuchen Xu ◽

Weijia Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Small Body ◽

Sample Return

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Visualization and Analysis of Data from Small-Body Missions with NASA’s Solar System Treks Portals

10.5194/epsc2020-160 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Brian Day ◽

Emily Law ◽

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Small Body ◽

Planetary Science ◽

Asteroid Belt ◽

Sample Collection ◽

Science Division ◽

Small Bodies ◽

Sample Site ◽

Surface Sample ◽

Data Products

This presentation provides an overview of portals within NASA&#8217;s Solar System Treks Project (SSTP) that specifically target small bodies within our Solar System. These, and all of the portals in the suite of Solar System Trek portals, are available at https://trek.nasa.gov. These portals each allow for visualization of different data products in 2D maps with various projections. They also allow users to conduct interactive 3D flyovers. The VR tool allows users to generate their own virtual reality flyovers for any user-defined paths along the bodies&#8217; surfaces. Other tools let users measure distances, generate elevation plots, and create 3D print files for user-defined regions or the entire body. JAXA&#8217;s Hayabusa 2 mission recently completed a campaign of reconnaissance, sample collection, and rover deployment at the near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu. JAXA is providing mission data to SSTP, which is incorporating it into the new Ryugu Trek portal (https://trek.nasa.gov/ryugu). The internationalized user interface features controls in both English and Japanese. The portal&#8217;s bookmarks feature takes users to particular areas of interest for more detailed looks at specific landforms and sites. On Ryugu, we focus on the surface sample site, impactor and sub-surface sample site, as well as landing sites and traverse paths for the HIBOU, OWL, and MASCOT rovers. We also highlight the first landforms on Ryugu to have been given official IAU names. While Hayabusa2 was exploring Ryugu, NASA&#8217;s OSIRIS-REx mission began conducting a detailed examination of the asteroid (101955) Bennu, another near-Earth object. At the request of NASA&#8217;s Planetary Science Division and the OSIRIS-REx mission, SSTP began implementation a new portal for the asteroid Bennu, featuring data that is being returned from OSIRIS-REx. The Bennu Trek portal (https://trek.nasa.gov/bennu) reveals Bennu&#8217;s top-like shape, a fascinating commonality with Ryugu. It also reveals details of Bennu&#8217;s intensely boulder covered terrain. Bookmarked features include Nightingale, Sandpiper, Osprey, and Kingfisher, the top four candidates for sample collection. We also highlight the first landforms on Bennu to have been given official IAU names. Each of these features were singled out as landmarks for OSIRIS-REx&#8217;s Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) navigation method that will be used to guide the spacecraft down to its surface sample collection site. In its investigations of Vesta and Ceres, NASA&#8217;s Dawn mission has returned spectacular data of the surfaces of these two prominent small bodies within the asteroid belt. This presentation will showcase the use of the Ceres Trek (https://trek.nasa.gov/ceres) and Vesta Trek (https://trek.nasa.gov/vesta) portals and demonstrate how they can be used to visualize and analyze particularly interesting landforms such as the pitted terrain on Vesta and relic cryovolcanoes on Ceres. Under development at this time is a new portal for Mars&#8217; larger Moon, Phobos. This portal will make extensive use of data from ESA&#8217;s Mars Express. It is being designed in collaboration with JAXA to support Japan&#8217;s upcoming Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. This presentation will provide a preview of a prototype for Phobos Trek. Other Near-Earth asteroids being considered as candidates for future portals include (433) Eros utilizing data gathered by the NEAR Shoemaker mission, and (25143) Itokawa using data from JAXA&#8217;s Hayabusa mission. Together, a growing collection of small body Trek portals would enhance capabilities for comparative planetology among this fascinating class of objects.&#160; All of these products are efforts in the NASA Solar System Treks Project, available at https://trek.nasa.gov. NASA's Solar System Trek online portals provide web-based suites of interactive data visualization and analysis tools to enable mission planners, planetary scientists, students, and the general public to access mapped data products from past and current missions for a growing number of planetary bodies. These portals are being used for site selection and analysis by NASA and its international partners, supporting upcoming missions. In addition to demonstrating the capabilities of selected portals in this presentation, we will solicit input from the community for ideas for future enhancements. The authors would like to thank the Planetary Science Division of NASA&#8217;s Science Mission Directorate, NASA&#8217;s SMD Science Engagement and Partnerships, the Advanced Explorations Systems Program of NASA&#8217;s Human Exploration Operations Directorate, and the Moon to Mars Directorate for their support and guidance in the development of the Solar System Treks.

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Hypervelocity Capture of Meteoroids in Aerogel

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100501614 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 150 ◽

pp. 237-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

P. Tsou

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Solar Nebula ◽

Planetary Science ◽

Laboratory Analysis ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Sample Return ◽

Processing History ◽

History Of ◽

Sample Return Mission ◽

Solar System Exploration

Micrometeoroids of cometary or asteroidal origin constitute a unique repository of information concerning the formation and subsequent processing history of materials in the solar nebula. One of the current goals of planetary science is to return samples from a known primitive extraterrestrial body for detailed laboratory analysis (NASA Solar System Exploration Committee, SSEC 1983). Planetary flyby orbital motions dictate that dust particles will approach the spacecraft at relative speeds up to tens of km/s. It has always been thought that these hypervelocity particles could not be captured without melting or vaporizing. We have developed the intact capture technology that enables flyby sample return of these hypervelocity particles. The STARDUST comet sample return mission, selected as the fourth NASA. Discovery mission, capitalizes on this technology (Brownlee et al. 1996).

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Design and Science Instrumentation of an Unmanned Vehicle for Sample Return from the Asteroid Eros

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100089399 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 543-560 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

H. F. Meissinger ◽

E. W. Greenstadt

Keyword(s):

Crystal Structure ◽

Chemical Composition ◽

Solar System ◽

Surface Texture ◽

Magnetic Characteristics ◽

Sample Return ◽

Surface Sample ◽

System A ◽

Structure Surface ◽

Fragmentation Processes

Unmanned missions to the asteroids have been proposed and investigated as part of the overall plan of exploration of the solar system. A principal incentive for landing on an asteroid and retrieving a surface sample for return to Earth is the expectation that detailed laboratory analysis of the sample material’s chemical composition, crystal structure, surface texture, magnetic characteristics, radioactive state, and age can provide essential clues, not available by other means, to the origin of asteroids and possibly the history and formative processes of the solar system (Alfvén and Arrhenius, 1910a,b; Bratenahl; Friedlander and Vickers, 1964; IIT Research Institute, 1964; Öhman, 1963). The results may indicate, for example, to what extent accretion or fragmentation processes have been involved in the formation of asteroids.

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Preface for special issue on Meteoroids, Meteors and Small bodies in the solar system: A special issue of the Meteoroids 2019 Conference

Planetary and Space Science ◽

10.1016/j.pss.2021.105191 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 199 ◽

pp. 105191

Author(s):

Diego Janches ◽

Althea Moorhead ◽

Maria Hajduková ◽

Juraj Tóth ◽

Quanzhi Ye ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Special Issue ◽

Small Bodies ◽

System A

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Small Bodies: Near and Far Database for thermal infrared observations of small bodies in the Solar System

Astronomy and Astrophysics ◽

10.1051/0004-6361/201936142 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 635 ◽

pp. A54 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Róbert Szakáts ◽

Thomas Müller ◽

Víctor Alí-Lagoa ◽

Gábor Marton ◽

Anikó Farkas-Takács ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Thermal Emission ◽

Small Body ◽

Thermal Inertia ◽

Far Infrared ◽

Web Interface ◽

Space Telescopes ◽

Small Bodies ◽

Infrared Observations ◽

External Resources

In this paper, we present the Small Bodies: Near and Far Infrared Database, an easy-to-use tool intended to facilitate the modelling of thermal emission of small bodies of the Solar System. Our database collects measurements of thermal emissions for small Solar System targets that are otherwise available in scattered sources and provides a complete description of the data, including all information necessary to perform direct scientific analyses and without the need to access additional external resources. This public database contains representative data of asteroid observations of large surveys (e.g. AKARI, IRAS, and WISE) as well as a collection of small body observations of infrared space telescopes (e.g. the Herschel Space Observatory) and provides a web interface to access this data. We also provide an example for the direct application of the database and show how it can be used to estimate the thermal inertia of specific populations, e.g. asteroids within a given size range. We show how different scalings of thermal inertia with heliocentric distance (i.e. temperature) may affect our interpretation of the data and discuss why the widely-used radiative conductivity exponent (α = –3/4) might not be adequate in general, as suggested in previous studies.

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