Actions for Manned NEO Mission EVA Challenges

Email RIS file
Bookmark
Report an Issue

Manned NEO Mission EVA Challenges

Published
March 07, 2011.
Physical Description
1 electronic document
Online Version

Availability

I Want It
I Want It

Finding items...

Restrictions on Access
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available.
Free-to-read Unrestricted online access
Summary
The President has proposed to land astronauts on an asteroid by 2025. However, Manned NEO (Near Earth Objects) Missions will present a host of new and exciting problems that will need to be better defined and solved before such a mission is launched. Here I will focus on the challenges for conducting asteroidal EVAs. Specfically, crew locomotion, sampling, drilling, documentation, and instrument deployment issues arising from the micro gravity environments associated with NEOs. Therefore, novel methods and techniques will need to be developed and tested in order to achieve specific mission science objectives. Walking or driving on the surface will not be a realistic option due to the small sizes (10 s to 100 s of meters in diameter) and hence extremely low gravity of the present day known candidate NEOs. EVAs will have to be carried out with crew members either using a self propelled device (akin to the MMU and SAFER units used on Shuttle/ISS) and or tethers. When using tethers a grid system could be deployed which is anchored to the asteroid. These anchor points could be inserted by firing penetrators into the surface from the spacecraft while it is still at a safe standoff distance. These penetrators would pull double duty by being laden with scientific instrumentation to probe the subsurface. Dust and debris generated by sample collection and locomotion in a microgravity environment could also pose some problems that will require forethought.
Other Subject(s)
Collection
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
Note
Document ID: 20120009386.
GSFC.ABS.00101.2012.
42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2011); 8-11 Mar. 2011; The Woodlands, TX; United States.
Terms of Use and Reproduction
No Copyright.
View MARC record | catkey: 15979303