CASTAway: An asteroid main belt tour and survey

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 i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in space research Vol. 62; no. 8; pp. 1998 - 2025
Main Authors: Bowles, N.E., Snodgrass, C., Gibbings, A., Sanchez, J.P., Arnold, J.A., Eccleston, P., Andert, T., Probst, A., Naletto, G., Vandaele, A.C., de Leon, J., Nathues, A., Thomas, I.R., Thomas, N., Jorda, L., Da Deppo, V., Haack, H., Green, S.F., Carry, B., Donaldson Hanna, K.L., Leif Jorgensen, J., Kereszturi, A., DeMeo, F.E., Patel, M.R., Davies, J.K., Clarke, F., Kinch, K., Guilbert-Lepoutre, A., Agarwal, J., Rivkin, A.S., Pravec, P., Fornasier, S., Granvik, M., Jones, R.H., Murdoch, N., Joy, K.H., Pascale, E., Tecza, M., Barnes, J.M., Licandro, J., Greenhagen, B.T., Calcutt, S.B., Marriner, C.M., Warren, T., Tosh, I.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.10.2018
Elsevier
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Engineering Sciences
Flyby
Main Asteroid Belt
Mapping
Other
Physics
Remote sensing
Sciences of the Universe
Survey
Main Asteroid Belt
Survey
Mapping
Remote sensing
Flyby
ISSN:0273-1177, 1879-1948
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0273-1177
1879-1948
DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2017.10.021