Optical observations of the BepiColombo spacecraft as a proxy for a potential threatening asteroid. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Micheli, Marco; Koschny, Detlef; Conversi, Luca; Budnik, Frank; Gray, Bill; Santana-Ros, Toni; Reszelewski, Rafał; Żołnowski, Michał; Gȩdek, Marcin; Gendre, Bruce; Coward, David; Molotov, Igor E.; Rumyantsev, Vasilij; Liakos, Alexios; Schmalz, Sergei
• Is Part Of: Acta astronautica. Volume 184(2021)
• Page Start: 251
• Page End: 258
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: Orbit determination -- Near-Earth objects -- Asteroids -- Dynamics; Astronautics -- Periodicals; Outer space -- Exploration -- Periodicals; Astronautics; Periodicals; 629.405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.04.022
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-5765

Abstract

Abstract: We present the results of our ground-based astrometric observation campaign of BepiColombo during its Earth fly-by on 2020 April 10. The observational circumstances induced by the fly-by geometry made this event an excellent proxy for a close fly-by or an imminent impact of a natural body with a diameter of a few meters, with the added benefit of having a ground-truth orbit (from radio tracking) to compare with our purely optical orbit determination. Highlights: We obtained ground-based optical astrometry of BepiColombo during its 2020 fly-by. The astrometry allowed us to compute an accurate trajectory for the fly-by. We compare the results with a ground-truth from radio tracking. We used the campaign as a proxy for an incoming potentially threatening asteroid.