Asteroid (65803) Didymos is an S-type [1] Apollo binary system characterized by a 780±30 m size primary, called Didymos, and a 164±18 m size secondary, called Dimorphos, orbiting at a distance of ~1.19 km [2]. The primary rotation period is 2.26 h [2], close to the 2.2 h disruption spin barrier [3], while the period of revolution of Dimorphos around the primary is 11.9217+0.0002 h [4]. This asteroid has been selected as the target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART, [5]), whose main goal is to impact Dimorphos at a speed of 6.6 km/s on September 30, 2022, thereby demonstrating the kinetic impactor technique and evaluating the resulting impulsive deflection. The scientific camera onboard DART is called DRACO, i.e. the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Op-nav [6]: its main goals are to image Didymos for optical navigation, to resolve the two bodies and support the spacecraft autonomous navigation to the target, and to locate the impact site precisely and characterize its local surface features. To complement such observations, the Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube, [7]) will be released from DART ten days before the impact, and autonomously guided through a flyby with closest approach distance of ~55 km from the target. LICIACube cameras LEIA (LICIACube Explorer Imaging for Asteroid - narrow angle camera) and LUKE (LICIACube Unit Key Explorer - wide angle camera) will then safely witness the redirection test in-situ, while its crater, as well as the ejecta and plume are being formed.
Boulders Size-Frequency Distribution on binary asteroid (65803) Didymos: Expected results from LICIACube/LEIA and DART/DRACO cameras
A Rossi;
2020
Abstract
Asteroid (65803) Didymos is an S-type [1] Apollo binary system characterized by a 780±30 m size primary, called Didymos, and a 164±18 m size secondary, called Dimorphos, orbiting at a distance of ~1.19 km [2]. The primary rotation period is 2.26 h [2], close to the 2.2 h disruption spin barrier [3], while the period of revolution of Dimorphos around the primary is 11.9217+0.0002 h [4]. This asteroid has been selected as the target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART, [5]), whose main goal is to impact Dimorphos at a speed of 6.6 km/s on September 30, 2022, thereby demonstrating the kinetic impactor technique and evaluating the resulting impulsive deflection. The scientific camera onboard DART is called DRACO, i.e. the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Op-nav [6]: its main goals are to image Didymos for optical navigation, to resolve the two bodies and support the spacecraft autonomous navigation to the target, and to locate the impact site precisely and characterize its local surface features. To complement such observations, the Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube, [7]) will be released from DART ten days before the impact, and autonomously guided through a flyby with closest approach distance of ~55 km from the target. LICIACube cameras LEIA (LICIACube Explorer Imaging for Asteroid - narrow angle camera) and LUKE (LICIACube Unit Key Explorer - wide angle camera) will then safely witness the redirection test in-situ, while its crater, as well as the ejecta and plume are being formed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
