Observations of Didymos in support of DART and Hera
Abstract
The binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos is the target for the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission, which is a concept with two spacecraft: NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) impactor and ESA's Hera orbiter. The DART spacecraft is designed to impact the secondary in the Didymos system, whose 160-meter size is typical of the size of asteroids that could pose a more common hazard to Earth, and modify its trajectory through momentum transfer. The Hera spacecraft would then visit Didymos to survey the diverted secondary, measure its mass and perform high-resolution mapping of the crater left by the DART impact. A key scientific goal of both AIDA missions is to measure and characterize the deflection caused by this impact. We will present an up-to-date knowledge of the Didymos system parameters obtained using lightcurve observations from 2019 and from previous apparitions.
- Publication:
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EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019
- Pub Date:
- September 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019EPSC...13..473S