Related papers: Intercepting Interstellar Objects
The question "How did we get here and what will the future bring?" captures the human imagination and the attention of the National Academy of Science's Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Commitee (AASC). Fulfillment of this "fundamental…
Sky survey telescopes and powerful targeted telescopes play complementary roles in astronomy. In order to investigate the nature and characteristics of the motions of very faint objects, a flexibly-pointed instrument capable of high…
DIOS (Diffuse Intergalactic Oxygen Surveyor) is a small satellite aiming for a launch around 2020 with JAXA's Epsilon rocket. Its main aim is a search for warm-hot intergalactic medium with high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of redshifted…
After a decade of great progress in understanding gas flow into, out of, and through the Milky Way, we are poised to merge observations with simulations to build a comprehensive picture of the multi-scale magnetized interstellar medium…
The Infra-Red Telescope (IRT) is part of the payload of the THESEUS mission, which is one of the two ESA M5 candidates within the Cosmic Vision program, planned for launch in 2032. The THESEUS payload, composed by two high energy wide field…
Cometary impacts pose a long-term hazard to life on Earth. Impact mitigation techniques have been studied extensively, but they tend to focus on asteroid diversion. Typical asteroid interdiction schemes involve spacecraft physically…
PILOT (the Pathfinder for an International Large Optical Telescope) is a proposed 2.5 m optical/infrared telescope to be located at Dome C on the Antarctic plateau. The atmospheric conditions at Dome C deliver a high sensitivity, high…
The K2 mission will make use of the Kepler spacecraft and its assets to expand upon Kepler's groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of exoplanets and astrophysics through new and exciting observations. K2 will use an innovative way of…
Preliminary spacecraft trajectories for 45 Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and Pluto suitable for launch between 2025 and 2040 are presented. These 46 objects comprise all objects with H magnitude < 4.0 or which have received a name from the…
The James Webb Space Telescope will revolutionize transiting exoplanet atmospheric science due to its capability for continuous, long-duration observations and its larger collecting area, spectral coverage, and spectral resolution compared…
Comet C/2014 UN$_{271}$, alternative designation 'BB' after its discoverers 'Bernardinelli/Bernstein', and commonly referred to as UN$_{271}$, is an extreme case on two fronts, firstly its solar distance on discovery ($>$ 29 au) and…
The proposed US Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) Program would secure national open access to at least 25% of the observing time on the Thirty Meter Telescope in the north and the Giant Magellan Telescope in the south. ELTs would advance…
Projections for the earliest interstellar mission possibilities are calculated based on 27 years of data on historic energy trends, societal priorities, required mission energy, and the implications of the Incessant Obsolescence Postulate…
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is the main target of ESA's Rosetta mission and will be encountered in May 2014. As the spacecraft shall be in orbit the comet nucleus before and after release of the lander {\it Philae}, it is necessary…
In this paper, the first in a series of four articles, the scientific goals of the Metron project are highlighted, and the characteristics of the cosmic objects available for study within its framework are provided. The Metron…
We will discuss the observing strategy of the Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) mission proposed to ESA as a response to the M5 call for proposals. The description of THESEUS and its science goals can be found…
The Photometric Observations of Exoplanet Transits (POET) is a proposed micro-satellite mission dedicated to the characterization and discovery of transiting exoplanets. POET has been identified as a top priority small-sat space mission in…
Over two hundred years ago Capt. James Cook sailed up Whitsunday Passage, just a few miles where we now sit, on a voyage of astronomical observation and discovery that remains an inspiration to us all. Since the prospects of our visiting…
We present our proposal for a small X-ray mission DIOS (Diffuse Intergalactic Oxygen Surveyor) to perform survey observations of warm-hot intergalactic medium using OVII and OVIII emission lines. This will be proposed to a small satellite…
Over the last three decades, an exceptionally good science case has been made for pursuing gravitational wave (GW) astronomy. This has engendered a worldwide effort to detect the extremely weak signals generated by expected sources. With…