Related papers: Interstellar Object Accessibility and Mission Desi…
Interstellar objects (ISOs) are small bodies that can travel through our solar system from other star systems. When present in our solar system, they represent an opportunity to study the properties and origins of these objects, as well as…
A solar sail propelled small satellite mission concept to intercept and potentially rendezvous with newly discovered transient interstellar objects (ISOs) is described. The mission concept derives from the proposal for a technology…
The recent discovery of the first confirmed Interstellar Objects (ISOs) passing through the Solar System on clearly hyperbolic objects opens the potential for near term ISO missions, either to the two known objects, or to similar objects…
The discoveries of two Interstellar Objects (ISOs) in recent years has generated significant interest in constraining their physical properties and the mechanisms behind their formation. However, their ephemeral passages through our Solar…
Interstellar objects (ISOs) are likely representatives of primitive materials invaluable in understanding exoplanetary star systems. Due to their poorly constrained orbits with generally high inclinations and relative velocities, however,…
Using the "statite," or static-satelite, concept -- an artificial satellite capable of hovering in place using a solar sail -- this work proposes to create a dynamic orbital slingshot in anticipation of Interstellar Objects (ISOs) passing…
Interstellar objects (ISOs) motivate a coupled mission-design and inference question relevant to spacecraft dynamics and control in extreme environments: if volatile-rich, rotating comet-like bodies were used for sustained deep-space…
The recently discovered first high velocity hyperbolic objects passing through the Solar System, 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, have raised the question about near term missions to Interstellar Objects. In situ spacecraft exploration of these…
Interstellar objects (ISOs), astronomical objects not gravitationally bound to the sun, could present valuable opportunities to advance our understanding of the universe's formation and composition. In response to the unpredictable nature…
1I/'Oumuamua (or 1I) and 2I/Borisov (or 2I), the first InterStellar Objects (ISOs) discovered passing through the solar system, have opened up entirely new areas of exobody research. Finding additional ISOs and planning missions to…
Recent observations and detections of interstellar objects (ISOs) passing through the solar system have sparked a wave of interest into these objects. Although rare, these ISOs can be captured into bound orbits around the Sun. In this…
Within just two years, two interstellar objects (ISOs) - Oumuamuas and Borisov - have been discovered. Large quantities of planetesimals form as a by-product of planet formation. Therefore, it seems likely that ISOs are former planetesimals…
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…
In this chapter we review our knowledge of our galaxy's cometary population outside our Oort Cloud - exocomets and Interstellar Objects (ISOs). We start with a brief overview of planetary system formation, viewed as a general process around…
We study the capture of interstellar objects (ISOs) by a planet-star binary with mass ratio $q\ll1$, semi-major axis $a_p$, orbital speed $v_c$, and eccentricity $e_p$. Very close (slingshot) and wide encounters with the planet are amenable…
This paper explicates the concept of an Intermediate Point (IP), its incorporation as a node along an interplanetary trajectory, and how it permits the determination and optimization of trajectories to interstellar objects (ISOs). IPs can…
Interstellar object (ISO) astronomy has rapidly emerged over the past decade as a new frontier in planetary astrophysics, yet current observations remain limited by short visibility windows, inference degeneracies and fragmented follow-up…
Capture of interstellar objects (ISOs) into the Solar system is dominated by ISOs with asymptotic incoming speeds $v_\infty<4\,$km\,s$^{-1}$. The capture rate is proportional to the ISO phase-space density in the Solar vicinity and does not…
I review those properties of the interstellar medium within 15 light-years of the Sun which will be relevant for the planning of future rapid ($v /ge 0.1c$) interstellar space missions to the nearest stars. As the detailed properties of the…
We derived 90% confidence limits (CL) on the interstellar number density ($\rho_{IS}^{CL}$) of interstellar objects (ISO; comets and asteroids) as a function of the slope of their size-frequency distribution and limiting absolute magnitude.…