Related papers: High Precision Astrometry in Asteroid Mitigation -…
The European Space Agency (ESA) is developing a network of wide-field survey telescopes, named Flyeye, to improve the discovery of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). The first telescope in the network will be located in the Northern Hemisphere on…
In this paper we put forward a proposal to use Near Earth Objects as radiation shield for deep space exploration. In principle these objects can provide also a spacious habitat for the astronauts and their supplies on their journeys. We…
When an asteroid has a few observations over a short time span the information contained in the observational arc could be so little that a full orbit determination may be not possible. One of the methods developed in recent years to…
Unlike NASA's original Kepler Discovery Mission, the renewed K2 Mission will stare at the plane of the Ecliptic, observing each field for approximately 75 days. This will bring new opportunities and challenges, in particular the presence of…
The aim is to show that in case of low probability of asteroid collision with Earth, the appropriate selection and weighing of the data are crucial for the impact investigation, and to analyze the impact possibilities using extensive…
Exploration of asteroids and comets can give insight into the origins of the solar system and can be instrumental in planetary defence and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Asteroids, due to their low gravity are a challenging target for…
The population of Earth-impacting meteoroids and its size-dependent orbital elements are key to understanding the origin of meteorites and informing on planetary defence efforts. Outstanding questions include the role of collisions in…
High-precision astrometry well beyond the capacities of Gaia will provide a unique way to achieve astrophysical breakthroughs, in particular on the nature of dark matter, and a complete survey of nearby habitable exoplanets. In this…
We propose a new Kepler mission, called NEOKepler, that would survey near Earth's orbit to identify potentially hazardous objects (PHOs). To understand its surveying power, Kepler's large field of view produces an 'etendue' (A*Omega) that…
The space environment around the Earth is populated by more than 130 million objects of 1 mm in size and larger, and future predictions shows that this amount is destined to increase, even if mitigation measures are implemented at a far…
We present here VRI spectrophotometry of 39 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) observed with the Sutherland, South Africa, node of the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). Of the 39 NEAs, 19 were targeted, but because of KMTNet's large 2…
Context. Orbital similarity measures, such as the D-values, have been extensively used in meteor science to identify meteoroid streams and associate meteorite falls with near-Earth objects (NEOs). However, the chaotic nature of near-Earth…
We discuss a hypothetical existential threat from a 10 km diameter bolide discovered 6 months prior to impact with one case being a comet and the other being an asteroid. We show that an extension of our work on bolide fragmentation using…
Hydrated minerals are tracers of early solar system history, and have been proposed as a possible focus for economic activity in space. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are important to both of these, especially the most accessible members of that…
The study of asteroids, its composition and trajectories, has been a persistent interest in the space exploration community. In addition, they are also perceived as a great threat to life on Earth, considering the possibility of an impact…
Context. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) on an impact course with Earth can move at high angular speed. Understanding their properties, including rotation state, is crucial for assessing impact risks and mitigation strategies. Traditional…
The number of binary asteroids in the near-Earth region might be significantly higher than expected. While Bottke and Melosh (1996) suggested that about 15% of the NEAs are binaries, as indicated from the frequency of double craters, and…
One of the main bottleneck in assessing the accuracy of Mars orbit is the unknown value of the asteroids in the Main Asteroid Belt. Nowadays a modeling with 343 asteroids as point masses is used, with the relative masses fitted to…
In the framework of a 30-night spectroscopic survey of small near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) we present new results regarding the identification of olivine-rich objects. The following NEAs were classified as A-type using visible spectra…
Asteroids and comets are of strategic importance for science in an effort to understand the formation, evolution and composition of the Solar System. Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are of particular interest because of their accessibility from…