A design of dust analyzer for future Main Belt Comet exploration mission

Zhao, Chengxuan; Wang, Yi; Li, Cunhui; Wang, Jiajie; Liu, Ze; Li, Shixun; Chen, Meng; Zhuang, Jianhong

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2022.02.035

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The ZhengHe payload will include cameras and spectroscopic capability covering the ultraviolet to thermal infrared range, radar (possibly with the capability to detect sub-surface ice), a magnetometer, and in situ analysis of any gas (Zhang et al 2021). A proposed dust analysis instrument for ZhengHe presents some novel aspects; if flown and the mission encounters an active body -it will combine momentum and size measurements via piezoelectric microbalances and a laser curtain, as used by GI-ADA on Rosetta, with microscopic imaging and a first-order assessment of composition (volatile vs refractory fraction) by heating (evaporating) collected particles and measuring the resulting change in mass (Zhao et al 2022). A subsurface penetrator has also been proposed for this mission (Tang et al 2021; see section 5.6.3).…”

Section: Zhenghementioning

confidence: 99%

Past and Future Comet Missions

Snodgrass¹,

Feaga²,

Jones³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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We review the history of spacecraft encounters with comets, concentrating on those that took place in the recent past, since the publication of the Comets II book. This includes the flyby missions Stardust and Deep Impact, and their respective extended missions, the Rosetta rendezvous mission, and serendipitous encounters. While results from all of these missions can be found throughout this book, this chapter focuses on the questions that motivated each mission, the technologies that were required to answer these questions, and where each mission opened new areas to investigate. There remain a large number of questions that will require future technologies and space missions to answer; we also describe planned next steps and routes forward that may be pursued by missions that have yet to be selected, and eventually lead to cryogenic sample return of nucleus ices for laboratory study.

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Section: Zhenghementioning

confidence: 99%

Past and Future Comet Missions

Snodgrass¹,

Feaga²,

Jones³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…The forthcoming Chinese deep space mission Tianwen-2 (previously known as the ZhengHe mission) will explore 311P (Zhang et al 2021), which is planned to be launched around 2025. On board the Tianwen-2 spacecraft there will be a dust analyzer, which is capable physically analyzing dust particles (Zhao et al 2022). Research on the dust environment of 311P is helpful and important for science and mission planning of Tianwen-2.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active Asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS: Rotational Instability as the Origin of its Multitails?

Liu,

Jia

et al. 2023

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The active asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS is one of the two targets of the planned Chinese asteroid exploration mission Tianwen-2. During 2013, 311P experienced several mass-loss events and exhibited multiple comet-like tails. Here we analyze the morphology and surface brightness of the tails to investigate the dust environment around the nucleus and the mechanism of activities. We enhance the features of the tails using image processing techniques to obtain information about the morphologies of the tails, and fit the processed images with syndyne–synchrone diagrams. The fitting results give estimations of the upper limits of the durations (2–8 days) of eruptions and the dust size ranges (0.006 –38.9 mm) in the tails. The results of surface photometry performed for each dust tail show that the brightness distribution index of each tail ranged from approximately −1.81 to 0 and the dust size distribution indices of 311P's tails ranged from −2.29 to −1.45. The quantity of particles in each tail ranged from 0.5 to 8 × 106 kg, which leads to a total dust-loss quantity of 3.0 × 107 kg and a mass-loss rate of 1.59 kg s−1. Sublimation, continuous impacts, or tidal forces of planets are excluded as explanations for 311P’s activities, and rotational instability remains a possible activation cause without strong evidence against it.

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A design of dust analyzer for future Main Belt Comet exploration mission

Cited by 2 publications

References 46 publications

Past and Future Comet Missions

Past and Future Comet Missions

Active Asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS: Rotational Instability as the Origin of its Multitails?

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