CASTAway: An asteroid main belt tour and survey.

Journal article

CASTAway is a mission concept to explore our Solar System’s main asteroid belt. Asteroids and comets provide a window into the formation and evolution of our Solar System and the composition of these objects can be inferred from space-based remote sensing using spectroscopic techniques. Variations in composition across the asteroid populations provide a tracer for the dynamical evolution of the Solar System. The mission combines a long-range (point source) telescopic survey of over 10,000 objects, targeted close encounters with 10 – 20 asteroids and serendipitous searches to constrain the distribution of smaller (e.g. 10 m) size objects into a single concept. With a carefully targeted trajectory that loops through the asteroid belt, CASTAway would provide a comprehensive survey of the main belt at multiple scales. The scientific payload comprises a 50 cm diameter telescope that includes an integrated low-resolution (R = 30 – 100) spectrometer and visible context imager, a thermal (e.g. 6 – 16 μm) imager for use during the flybys, and modified star tracker cameras to detect small (~10 m) asteroids. The CASTAway spacecraft and payload have high levels of technology readiness and are designed to fit within the programmatic and cost caps for a European Space Agency medium class mission, whilst delivering a significant increase in knowledge of our Solar System.

Authors: Bowles, NE; Snodgrass, C; Gibbings, A; Sanchez, JP; Arnold, JA

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Advances in Space Research
• Volume: 62
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1998-2025
• Publication date: 2017-11-01
• Acceptance date: 2017-10-16
• DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2017.10.021
• EISSN: 1879-1948
• ISSN: 0273-1177
• Keywords: remote sensing; Main Asteroid Belt; flyby; mapping; survey