Prometheus: A low-cost microsatellite flyby mission of 4179 Toutatis

An interplanetary small satellite mission is presented in this paper. The mission is to capture a series of images of a near earth object (NEO) and transmit them back to Earth. In this work, a full design and system description of the satellite is presented along with a simple outline of the mission...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta astronautica 2006-10, Vol.59 (8), p.834-844
Main Authors: Kennedy, F., Coxhill, I., Kormos, T., Imre, E., Fielding, J., Atek, S., Lappas, V., Freebody, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
4179 Toutatis
Interplanetary
Microsatellite
Near earth object
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Summary:An interplanetary small satellite mission is presented in this paper. The mission is to capture a series of images of a near earth object (NEO) and transmit them back to Earth. In this work, a full design and system description of the satellite is presented along with a simple outline of the mission and the expected imagery received. The aim of the design process was to produce a practical, low-cost, small satellite mission with mainly commercial off-the-shelf components and a rapid development schedule. Despite difficult mass and volumetric constraints, the Prometheus team was able to establish that a small microsatellite observation mission for NEOs appears feasible in the near-term.
ISSN:0094-5765
1879-2030
DOI:10.1016/j.actaastro.2005.07.057