Title:
Marco Polo: A Sample Return Mission to a Primitive NEO

dc.contributor.author Barucci, Antonella en_US
dc.contributor.author Agnolon, David en_US
dc.contributor.author Koschny, Detlef en_US
dc.contributor.author Escorial, Diego en_US
dc.contributor.author Ritter, Heiko en_US
dc.contributor.author Romstedt, Jens en_US
dc.contributor.author Ferracina, L. en_US
dc.contributor.author Khan, M. en_US
dc.contributor.author Coste, P. en_US
dc.contributor.author Falkner, Peter en_US
dc.contributor.author Drai, R. en_US
dc.contributor.corporatename European Space Operations Centre en_US
dc.contributor.corporatename European Space Research and Technology Centre en_US
dc.contributor.corporatename Observatoire de Paris en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2009-01-20T20:09:34Z
dc.date.available 2009-01-20T20:09:34Z
dc.date.issued 2008-06-26
dc.description This presentation was part of the session : Sample Return Challenges en_US
dc.description Sixth International Planetary Probe Workshop en_US
dc.description.abstract Marco Polo is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) sample return mission currently studied by the European Space Agency (ESA). The intention is to perform this mission in collaboration with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It has been selected as a medium-class mission candidate for a one-year competitive assessment study within the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme of ESA. At the end of 2009 a further down-selection will occur and the retained missions will enter into definition phase. Eventually the final M-class mission will be selected in 2011 to enter into implementation phase. The primary goal of Marco Polo is to return to Earth samples of surface material from a primitive NEO (e.g. D or C-type). At this early stage many design options are being assessed, including the NEO target which is one of the primary mission drivers. A number of them have been identified based on their scientific interest and analyses are ongoing to determine which ones are most compatible with the technical, cost and programmatic requirements. A launch in 2017 onboard a Soyuz-Fregat 2-1b from Kourou is currently envisaged. Various launch and orbit insertion strategies are possible such as direct launch to escape trajectory to meet the Vinf requirement or launch to an intermediate HEO orbit and later burn sequence to achieve the required Vinf via the spacecraft propulsion module. In addition the interplanetary outbound and inbound transfer strategy, i.e. propulsion (impulsive vs low-thrust) and gravity assist, will be traded against scientific return, mass, transfer duration and cost criteria. Upon encounter with the NEO, the spacecraft is inserted within its vicinity, either out of its sphere of influence at a so-called "home" position or on a closer self-stabilizing orbit. During this phase a scientific payload suite characterizes the global physical and mineralogical properties of the NEO as well as identifies all surface hazards. Orbiting is currently preferred as it yields higher resolution data. Some instruments will also be used as navigation sensors so as to optimize onboard resources. Following this, up to five sampling sites are locally characterized at very high resolution and one of them is selected based on its scientific value and the risk it yields on the sampling operations. Due to the highly perturbed NEO gravity environment and the long communication times the spacecraft then autonomously descends towards the selected site, collects 10-100 g of material from the top surface layer, retrieves context information and verifies that a scientifically valuable sample has been acquired. The exact descent and sampling sequence is to be defined in the early stage of the study and will be based on one of the following approaches: hover and go, touch and go or soft landing. The possibility of sampling at more than one site is envisaged. The collected material is then transferred to the Earth Re-entry Capsule (ERC) which is carried back to Earth by the return vehicle and released shortly before arrival. Before landing the ERC undertakes a challenging high-speed re-entry through the Earth atmosphere at a velocity between 12 and 14 km.s-1, depending on the finally selected target. The current baseline is a fully passive ERC (i.e. no parachutes). Eventually the sample is transported to a dedicated curation facility. Due to the stringent mission cost and programmatic requirements simple and robust technologies with a high technology readiness level will be favoured throughout the assessment study. This paper will present the study status and an overview of the mission scenario with a focus on the key enabling technology areas involved in the NEO landing and Earth re-entry phases. These can efficiently build upon the expertise of ESA acquired in sample return mission studies (e.g. Mars Sample Return) and JAXA who has tremendous development and flight experience from the ongoing Hayabusa mission. en_US
dc.description.sponsorship European Space Agency en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/26393
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries IPPW08. Sample Return Challenges en_US
dc.subject Spacecraft systems engineering en_US
dc.subject High speed Earth re-entry en_US
dc.subject Low-gravity bodies en_US
dc.subject Mission analysis en_US
dc.title Marco Polo: A Sample Return Mission to a Primitive NEO en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Proceedings
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.corporatename Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename College of Engineering
local.relation.ispartofseries International Planetary Probe Workshop (IPPW)
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication a348b767-ea7e-4789-af1f-1f1d5925fb65
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
relation.isSeriesOfPublication 6369d36f-9ab2-422f-a97e-4844b98f173b
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