Interstellar Object Accessibility and Mission Design
Abstract
Interstellar objects (ISOs) are fascinating and under-explored celestial objects, providing physical laboratories to understand the formation of our solar system and probe the composition and properties of material formed in exoplanetary systems. This paper will discuss the accessibility of and mission design to ISOs with varying characteristics, including a discussion of state covariance estimation over the course of a cruise, handoffs from traditional navigation approaches to novel autonomous navigation for fast flyby regimes, and overall recommendations about preparing for the future in situ exploration of these targets. The lessons learned also apply to the fast flyby of other small bodies including long-period comets and potentially hazardous asteroids, which also require a tactical response with similar characteristics.
Additional Information
© 2023 California Institute of Technology. This work is being carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA. Government sponsorship acknowledged.Attached Files
Accepted Version - 2210.14980.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 120117
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20230316-225910601
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2023-03-17Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-06-28Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- GALCIT