Missions to Binary Asteroids: A Pathway to Understanding the Morphological Evolution of Rubble Pile Asteroids

Prof. Daniel J. Scheeres (ダニエル・シアーズ教授）
Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, The University of Colorado at Boulder

Binary asteroids are found frequently within the small Near Earth Asteroid　(NEA) population, with about 15% of all asteroids believed to be binaries.　However, there are reasons to believe that the processes that create binary asteroids are the same that drive the overall evolution of small rubble pile asteroid morphologies. In this talk we will outline how the processes that create binary asteroids should shape many other aspects of the small asteroid population. Motivated by this, it becomes clear that missions which explore binary asteroids to determine the details of their formation processes may also provide insight and understanding on the overall evolution of the small body population in the solar system. We will introduce a few planned missions to binary asteroids that will investigate these bodies in detail for the first time. Beyond these planned missions there are also many other possible approaches to exploring binary asteroids that could further unveil the formation mechanics of these systems, and hence shed insight on the small body population.

A1F Entrance hall, Via Zoom

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