Loading…

The gas-surface interaction of a human-occupied spacecraft with a near-Earth object

NASA’s asteroid redirect mission (ARM) will feature an encounter of the human-occupied Orion spacecraft with a portion of a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) previously placed in orbit about the Moon by a capture spacecraft. Applying a shuttle analog, we suggest that the Orion spacecraft should have a domin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in space research 2016-11, Vol.58 (9), p.1648-1653
Main Authors: Farrell, W.M., Hurley, D.M., Poston, M.J., Zimmerman, M.I., Orlando, T.M., Hibbitts, C.A., Killen, R.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:NASA’s asteroid redirect mission (ARM) will feature an encounter of the human-occupied Orion spacecraft with a portion of a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) previously placed in orbit about the Moon by a capture spacecraft. Applying a shuttle analog, we suggest that the Orion spacecraft should have a dominant local water exosphere, and that molecules from this exosphere can adsorb onto the NEA. The amount of adsorbed water is a function of the defect content of the NEA surface, with retention of shuttle-like water levels on the asteroid at 1015 H2O’s/m2 for space weathered regolith at T∼300K.
ISSN:0273-1177
1879-1948
DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2016.08.031