A Hardware Prototype for Optical Gravimetry during Asteroid Flybys

摘要

This paper describes a hardware prototype and functional test campaign in support of optical gravimetry (OpGrav). OpGrav is an approach for determining the mass of a small body from a high-speed spacecraft flyby by tracking a set of test-masses that pass near to the body. A driving parameter for OpGrav is the minimum achievable close approach altitude for a test-mass deployed many hours prior to the flyby. This requires an accurate dispenser that operates after long hibernation periods. In this paper, we describe our hardware design and prototype to meet these objectives, which is called the Small-body In-situ Multi-probe Mass Estimation Experiment (SIMMEE). We also report on a recent test campaign to characterize its performance.