Related papers: Bayesian Shape Reconstruction and Optimal Guidance…
There are thousands of asteroids in near-Earth space and millions in the Main Belt. They are diverse in physical properties and composition and are time capsules of the early solar system. This makes them strategic locations for planetary…
DESTINY+ is an upcoming JAXA Epsilon medium-class mission to flyby multiple asteroids including Phaethon. As an asteroid flyby observation instrument, a telescope mechanically capable of single-axis rotation, named TCAP, is mounted on the…
As astronomical photometric surveys continue to tile the sky repeatedly, the potential to pushdetection thresholds to fainter limits increases; however, traditional digital-tracking methods cannotachieve this efficiently beyond time scales…
We developed a 3-D elastic Boundary Element Method (BEM) computer code, called AstroSeis, to model seismic wavefields in a body with an arbitrary shape, such as an asteroid. Besides the AstroSeis can handle arbitrary surface topography, it…
This paper presents a robust linear method for impact probability estimation of near-Earth asteroids with the Earth. This method is a significantly modified and improved method, which uses a special curvilinear coordinate system associated…
Recent studies of optimization methods and GNC of spacecraft near small bodies focusing on descent, landing, rendezvous, etc., with key safety constraints such as line-of-sight conic zones and soft landings have shown promising results;…
We present a computational approach for the design of continuous low thrust transfers around an asteroid. These transfers are computed through the use of a reachability set generated on a lower dimensional Poincar\'e surface. Complex, long…
Efficient and accurate 3D object shape reconstruction contributes significantly to the success of a robot's physical interaction with its environment. Acquiring accurate shape information about unknown objects is challenging, especially in…
Many asteroids are rubble piles with irregular shapes. While the irregular shapes of large asteroids may be attributed to collisional events, those of small asteroids may result from not only impact events but also rotationally induced…
This paper presents an integrated model-learning predictive control scheme for spacecraft orbit-attitude station-keeping in the vicinity of asteroids. The orbiting probe relies on optical and laser navigation while attitude measurements are…
As evidenced by recent survey results, majority of asteroids are slow rotators (P>12 h), but lack spin and shape models due to selection bias. This bias is skewing our overall understanding of the spins, shapes, and sizes of asteroids, as…
Accurate mass estimation is essential for the safe and efficient operation of autonomous heavy-duty vehicles, particularly during transportation missions in unstructured environments such as mining sites, where vehicle mass can vary…
We present a comparison of our results from ground-based observations of asteroid (21) Lutetia with imaging data acquired during the flyby of the asteroid by the ESA Rosetta mission. This flyby provided a unique opportunity to evaluate and…
A method for asteroid deflection that makes use of a spacecraft moving back and forth on a segment of an appropriate Keplerian orbit about the asteroid is described and evaluated. It is shown that, on average, the spacecraft describing such…
Autonomous Science is a field of study which aims to extend the autonomy of exploration robots from low level functionality, such as on-board perception and obstacle avoidance, to science autonomy, which allows scientists to specify…
In this paper we present a new fast and accurate method for Radial Basis Function (RBF) approximation, including interpolation as a special case, which enables us to effectively find the optimal value of the RBF shape parameter. In…
Through multiple, small unmanned probes we can more efficiently capture an asteroid and return it to lunar orbit. The Asteroid Return and Exploration System (ARES) aims to make use of previously tested technology with the application of a…
We explore the potential of our novel triaxial modeling machinery in recovering the viewing angles, the shape and the orbit distribution of galaxies by using a high-resolution $N$-body merger simulation. Our modelling technique includes…
Planetary bodies such as asteroids, comets, and planetary moons are high-value science targets as they hold important information about the formation and evolution of our solar system. However, due to their low-gravity, variable sizes and…
Context: Occultations of stars by asteroids are an efficient method to study the properties of minor bodies, and can be exploited as tools to derive very precise asteroid astrometry relative to the target star. With the availability of…