Artist’s concept of the spacecraft. Credit: FMI
A fleet of tiny spacecraft could visit over 300 asteroids in just over 3 years, according to a mission study led by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The Asteroid Touring Nanosat Fleet concept comprises 50 spacecraft propelled by innovative electric solar wind sails (E-sails) and equipped with instruments to take images and collect spectroscopic data on the composition of the asteroids. Each nanosat would visit 6 or 7 asteroids before returning to Earth to deliver the data. The concept will be presented by Dr Pekka Janhunen at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga on Tuesday 19th September.
“Asteroids are very diverse and, to date, we’ve only seen a small number at close range...
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