Abstract
Language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 9 May 2011 |
Event | IAA Planetary Defense Conference, Protecting Earth from Asteroids: From threat to Action - Bucharest, , Romania Duration: 9 May 2011 → 12 May 2011 |
Conference
Conference | IAA Planetary Defense Conference, Protecting Earth from Asteroids: From threat to Action |
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Country | Romania |
City | Bucharest, |
Period | 9/05/11 → 12/05/11 |
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Keywords
- kinetic impact
- asteroid deflection
- earth-impacting trajectories
- impact geometries
- planetary protection
Cite this
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Planetary protection efficiency by a small kinetic impactor. / Sanchez Cuartielles, Joan-Pau; Colombo, Camilla; McInnes, Colin.
2011. Paper presented at IAA Planetary Defense Conference, Protecting Earth from Asteroids: From threat to Action, Bucharest, , Romania.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
TY - CONF
T1 - Planetary protection efficiency by a small kinetic impactor
AU - Sanchez Cuartielles, Joan-Pau
AU - Colombo, Camilla
AU - McInnes, Colin
PY - 2011/5/9
Y1 - 2011/5/9
N2 - This paper re-examines the deflection concept with, arguably, the highest technological readiness level: the kinetic impactor. A baseline design for the concept with a 1,000 kg spacecraft launched from Earth is defined. The paper then analyses the capability of the kinetic spacecraft to offer planetary protection, thus, deflecting asteroids on a collision trajectory with Earth. In order to give a realistic estimate, the paper uses a set of more than 17 thousand Earth-impacting trajectories and has computed the largest asteroid mass that could be deflected to a sufficiently safe distance from Earth. By using the relative impact frequency of the different impact orbits, which can be estimated by modeling the asteroid population and the collision probability of the different impact geometries, a figure on the level of planetary protection that such a system could offer can be estimated. The results show that such a system could offer very high levels of protection, around 97% deflection reliability, against objects between 15 to 75 meters, while decreases for larger sizes.
AB - This paper re-examines the deflection concept with, arguably, the highest technological readiness level: the kinetic impactor. A baseline design for the concept with a 1,000 kg spacecraft launched from Earth is defined. The paper then analyses the capability of the kinetic spacecraft to offer planetary protection, thus, deflecting asteroids on a collision trajectory with Earth. In order to give a realistic estimate, the paper uses a set of more than 17 thousand Earth-impacting trajectories and has computed the largest asteroid mass that could be deflected to a sufficiently safe distance from Earth. By using the relative impact frequency of the different impact orbits, which can be estimated by modeling the asteroid population and the collision probability of the different impact geometries, a figure on the level of planetary protection that such a system could offer can be estimated. The results show that such a system could offer very high levels of protection, around 97% deflection reliability, against objects between 15 to 75 meters, while decreases for larger sizes.
KW - kinetic impact
KW - asteroid deflection
KW - earth-impacting trajectories
KW - impact geometries
KW - planetary protection
UR - http://www.pdc2011.org/
M3 - Paper
ER -