The gas-surface interaction of a human-occupied spacecraft with a near-Earth object

Abstract

NASA's asteroid redirect mission (ARM) will feature an encounter of the human-occupied Orion spacecraft with a portion of a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) previously placed in orbit about the Moon by a capture spacecraft. Applying a shuttle analog, we suggest that the Orion spacecraft should have a dominant local water exosphere, and that molecules from this exosphere can adsorb onto the NEA. The amount of adsorbed water is a function of the defect content of the NEA surface, with retention of shuttle-like water levels on the asteroid at 10^(15) H_2O's/m^2 for space weathered regolith at T ∼ 300 K.

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