Exploring the asteroid Apophis with small satellites

The writer of a catastrophe novel could not have dreamed it up any higher: On a Friday, the thirteenth of all days, the doubtless harmful asteroid (99942) Apophis will come extraordinarily near humanity.

On 13 April 2029, there’ll solely be round 30,000 kilometers between the cosmic rock and Earth. It is going to then be potential to see Apophis with the naked eye as a degree of sunshine within the night sky, even from Würzburg.

What makes the asteroid so harmful is that its common diameter is a powerful 340 meters. If it have been to hit the Earth, the destruction brought on by an impression on land can be monumental.

“The impact crater alone would most likely have a diameter of a number of kilometers, and the power of the impression may devastate an space the dimensions of Central Europe,” estimates Jonathan Männel, analysis affiliate on the Professorship for Area Know-how at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany.

However do not panic: No less than for the subsequent 100 years, Apophis will spare the Earth, as NASA has calculated. Because the asteroid was found in 2004 and labeled as harmful, the US and different space organizations have been protecting an in depth eye on its orbit and now know that it’ll fly previous the Earth.

Apophis affords a uncommon alternative for analysis

Asteroids are irregularly formed objects that transfer in orbits across the sun. To this point, round 1.3 million asteroids are identified to exist in our solar system, and round 2500 are thought-about doubtlessly hazardous for the Earth.

Probably Hazardous Asteroids (PHA) are near-Earth asteroids whose orbits are lower than 20 lunar distances from the Earth’s orbit and whose diameter is of over 140 meters (460 ft). Science doesn’t know very a lot about asteroids: up to now, there have solely been round 20 satellite missions which have focused these celestial our bodies.

What’s the construction of asteroids? What influences their trajectory? What occurs to them after they fly near different objects and really feel their gravitational pull? There are various inquiries to be answered.

As a result of an asteroid of this dimension solely comes so near Earth each 1000 years, there’s a uncommon alternative to review the asteroid with comparatively little effort. In doing so, mankind may additionally acquire data that may very well be used to develop protection measures towards harmful asteroids.

Three ideas are scrutinized

What contribution may Germany make to the analysis into Apophis? A JMU staff led by aerospace engineer Professor Hakan Kayal is investigating this query within the NEAlight undertaking.

Undertaking chief Jonathan Männel and analysis assistants Tobias Neumann and Clemens Riegler are investigating three ideas for German small satellite missions. All three are based mostly on the outcomes of the SATEX undertaking from 2023, through which the Würzburg staff analyzed the potential of small satellites for interplanetary missions.

Idea primary: For a nationwide mission, Kayal’s staff is constructing a small satellite that can accompany the asteroid Apophis for 2 months on its method to its closest level to Earth and stick with it for just a few weeks afterwards.

Throughout this time, the adjustments in Apophis will likely be documented photographically and analyzed utilizing varied measurements. This technique poses numerous technical challenges, because the small satellite has to cowl an extended distance and performance largely autonomously.

Idea quantity two: Germany is collaborating within the deliberate European RAMSES mission. This envisages a bigger satellite, outfitted with small satellites, telescopes and different measuring devices, which is able to fly to Apophis and accompany it on its flyby of the Earth over an extended time period. One of many small satellites may very well be from Würzburg and research the asteroid in conjunction with the opposite satellites.

For the JMU staff, the technical effort concerned can be much less and the scientific data gained can be better. Whether or not the RAMSES mission is finally realized additionally will depend on the willingness of the European ESA companions to co-finance the undertaking.

Idea quantity three: A small satellite constructed at JMU flies briefly previous the asteroid when it’s closest to Earth and takes photographs. This may exhibit that such a mission can be potential with cheap small satellites.

The trouble concerned can be comparatively small, however the remark time can be brief and the data gained would most likely be quite small. This mission may start just a few days earlier than the arrival of Apophis—with the primary two ideas, the satellite must be launched a 12 months earlier.

Elaboration of the situations by April 2025

Within the NEAlight undertaking, Kayal’s staff will work out the necessities for these three mission situations intimately, outline the essential mission architectures and consider the conclusion choices. It is going to additionally use the three ideas to contemplate realization choices for future interplanetary small satellites that fly to the moon or different near-Earth asteroids (NEA), for instance.

The undertaking was launched at the start of Might 2024 and can run for one 12 months. It’s being carried out on the Interdisciplinary Analysis Centre for Extraterrestrial Research (IFEX) on the JMU Professorship for Area Know-how.