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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday September 20 2017, @06:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the i'll-be-your-tour-guide dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1937

Researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) presented a mission plan today at the European Planetary Science Congress that would allow scientists to observe hundreds of asteroids over the course of just a few years. Their plan is to send 50 nanoprobes -- small space instruments -- into the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter to take images and chemical measurements of around 300 large asteroids. "Asteroids are very diverse and, to date, we've only seen a small number at close range. To understand them better, we need to study a large number in situ. The only way to do this affordably is by using small spacecraft," FMI's Pekka Janhunen told Popular Mechanics.

The five kilogram probes would be affixed with a tiny telescope and a spectrometer that would analyze chemical samples from the asteroids. The nanoprobes would be propelled through space with electric solar wind sails, or E-sails. The E-sail would be composed of the main spacecraft, a smaller remote unit and a 20-kilometer-long tether that connects the two. That tether would be kept at a positive charge so that when positive ions emitted by the sun and traveling through space come in contact with it, they'll repel each other, giving the probe a nice boost.

[...] You can read the conference paper here.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/19/scientists-explore-asteroids-fleet-nanoprobes/


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday September 20 2017, @07:06PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday September 20 2017, @07:06PM (#570789) Journal

    There is a precedent [wikipedia.org] for the nano- prefix being misused in this context:

    The term "nanosatellite" or "nanosat" is applied to an artificial satellite with a wet mass between 1 and 10 kg (2.2 and 22.0 lb).[2][5][6] Designs and proposed designs of these types may be launched individually, or they may have multiple nanosatellites working together or in formation, in which case, sometimes the term "satellite swarm"[20] or "fractionated spacecraft" may be applied. Some designs require a larger "mother" satellite for communication with ground controllers or for launching and docking with nanosatellites.

    With continued advances in the miniaturization and capability increase of electronic technology and the use of satellite constellations, nanosatellites are increasingly capable of performing commercial missions that previously required microsatellites.[21] For example, a 6U CubeSat standard has been proposed to enable a constellation of 35 8 kg (18 lb) Earth-imaging satellites to replace a constellation of five 156 kg (344 lb) RapidEye Earth-imaging satellites, at the same mission cost, with significantly increased revisit times: every area of the globe can be imaged every 3.5 hours rather than the once per 24 hours with the RapidEye constellation. More rapid revisit times are a significant improvement for nations performing disaster response, which was the purpose of the RapidEye constellation. Additionally, the nanosat option would allow more nations to own their own satellite for off-peak (non-disaster) imaging data collection.[21]

    Example satellites: ExoCube (CP-10) , ArduSat

    Nanosatellite developers and manufacturers include GomSpace, NanoSpace, Spire,[22] Surrey Satellite Technology,[23] NovaWurks,[24] Dauria Aerospace[25] and Planet Labs.[23]

    5 kg is right in the middle of that range.

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