[FPSPACE] Probe to 'look inside' asteroids

[Alex Michael Bonnici]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3926805.stm




     Probe to 'look inside' asteroids
      By Paul Rincon
      BBC News Online science staff in Paris, France


     A new space mission concept unveiled at a Paris conference aims to
look inside
     asteroids to reveal how they are made.

     Deep Interior would use radar to probe the origin and evolution of
two near-Earth objects less
     than 1km across.

     The mission, which could launch some time later this decade, would
also give clues to how the
     planets evolved.

     The perceived threat of asteroids colliding with our planet has
renewed interest in space
     missions to understand these mysterious bodies.

     Different targets

     Deep Interior would use two 30m-long radar antennas to build up a
picture of the structure of
     the asteroids, including compositional boundaries and faults, and
its topography.

     This should show whether the asteroids are solid all the way
through or are essentially
     floating piles of rubble.

     It is intended to rendezvous with two asteroids which are each
under 1km in size: Nyx and
     1999 ND43.

     Nyx is a so-called V-type asteroid, containing stony irons,
chondrites and pyroxene. The other
     target, 1999 ND43, is not well understood.

     The asteroids have partially been chosen because they are easy to
reach.

     The probe would also carry a radio tomography instrument - to
examine electromagnetic
     properties - and two colour cameras.

     Earth alert

     A proposal for the project, described here at the Committee on
Space Research (Cospar)
     scientific assembly, was submitted to Nasa two weeks ago.

     The scientists behind the concept hope that, if accepted, the probe
could launch as early as
     2009.

     An asteroid mission concept - called Don Quijote was recently given
priority over five other
     potential asteroid projects by the European Space Agency.

     The mission is designed to help scientists understand how an
asteroid on a collision course
     with Earth might be destroyed or deflected.

     This mission would involve two spacecraft - Sancho and Hidalgo -
launched on different
     trajectories to the same asteroid. Sancho would arrive first and
orbit from a safe distance.

     It would then measure the effects as Hidalgo is sent crashing into
the asteroid's surface.

     Nasa has a similar mission - Deep Impact - which will blow a hole
in the comet Tempel 1 and
     measure the effects.

     Story from BBC NEWS:
     http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/3926805.stm

     Published: 2004/07/26 12:23:31 GMT

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