[X] My Assistant

[TheAnt]

Thank you Yaohua for this information. A proposal to get 3 asteroids visited with one mission could make that attractive that the proposal might get a go ahead.

MOD NOTE: Follow-on discussion re multiple encounters moved here.

[vjkane]

MOD NOTE: New topic split from previous posts here.

A proposal to get 3 asteroids visited with one mission could make that attractive that the proposal might get a go ahead.

There have been various concepts in the US planetary community for similar missions. I'm not sure if any made it to the status of formal proposals to the Discovery program. Eventually some space agency is likely to do this.

[Phil Stooke]

Of course, the concept of a multiple small body mission is similar to the ill-fated CONTOUR. I hope we will see this mission happen - I would like to see a large sample of small bodies studied over the years. We're already doing quite well, but there is such diversity still to see.

Phil

[jgoldader]

Of course, the concept of a multiple small body mission is similar to the ill-fated CONTOUR. I hope we will see this mission happen - I would like to see a large sample of small bodies studied over the years. We're already doing quite well, but there is such diversity still to see.

Phil

I tossed out a thought earlier about stationing a craft at one of the EML points, waiting for targets of opportunity or just good close flybys. With enough good trajectory planning and delta-v you might be able to get back to the EML to wait for additional opportunities. Another possibility- we saw demos several years ago of "brilliant pebbles" hovering and maneuvering in tethered tests on the ground. Maybe we could put up a bus carrying half a dozen of those, augmented with a better propulsion system. Sort of nanosatellites, launched at good targets from EML. Payload maybe a webcam and a decent optical imager; are there enough mineral features to justify a 1-1.6 micron passively cooled imager or spectrometer?

Jeff