A Bold Proposal for a Manned Deep Space Mission to Rendezvous With and Sample an Asteroid and a Comet

Abstract

A mission to Mars is the grandest vision we have for manned deep space exploration in the relatively near future. Yet that goal seems to be fading farther into the future for lack of financial commitment. The technical hurdles of landing on Mars and returning to Earth are daunting compared to manned lunar missions and other deep space missions. Simpler manned deep space missions have been proposed but fail to ignite the imagination. Examples are a simple Mars fly-by and the proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) to robotically capture a small asteroid and bring it into lunar orbit for study by a manned mission. The ARM proposal does have the potential of demonstrating planetary defense by redirecting an asteroid, science appeal for learning more about the origins of the solar system, and a commercial appeal for developing asteroid mining techniques. However, these proposals remain unfunded for lack of universal inspiration. The objective of this paper is to explore a bold proposal for a manned deep space mission to rendezvous with and sample an asteroid and a comet on a single mission between Earth and Mars orbit. Many Amor asteroid and short period comet candidates will be presented with orbit and timing parameters utilizing the JPL Small Body Database Browser program. Science objectives and sampling technology will be discussed. While not endorsing any one deep space system, we will discuss the developing capabilities of NASA's Orion and other commercial manned deep space hardware as well as the requirement realities of fuel and consumables for the proposed mission. While the requirements are not trivial, they are simpler than a manned Mars landing and return mission. Without a doubt, recent robotic missions to Mars, Vesta, Ceres, Pluto, and the Rosetta mission comet landing have fired public imagination. This bold manned deep space mission proposal to visit an asteroid and a comet may have the universal inspiration to merit international and commercial investment for funding. Like the ARM proposal, this bold new proposal also has the potential of demonstrating planetary defense by redirecting an asteroid, enhancing understanding of the origins of the solar system, commercial appeal for developing asteroid mining techniques, and most importantly goes a huge step towards demonstrating manned deep space technical capability leading to a manned mission to land on Mars.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90259 ©2016 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 19-22, 2016