Spacecraft at Small NEO

Abstract

The impact risk has been sharply curtailed for the largest km-sized Near Earth Objects (NEOs) through a concerted period of observation spanning the last decade. Thus the risk of impact has now migrated to the smaller and more numerous members of the Near Earth Object (NEO) population. Characterization and mitigation missions to these smaller objects become more complex from a spacecraft operations perspective, even as the prospects for nudging such lower mass bodies off course become more feasible. This paper details the challenges for spacecraft operations at small bodies and indicates areas where more research and analysis of this problem is needed.