The strength of regolith and rubble pile asteroids
Paul Sánchez,Daniel J. Scheeres +1 more
TLDR
In this article, the authors explore the hypothesis that small rubble pile asteroids have a small but non-zero cohesive strength, which creates a scale dependence with relative strength increasing as size decreases.Abstract:
We explore the hypothesis that, due to small van der Waals forces between constituent grains, small rubble pile asteroids have a small but non-zero cohesive strength. The nature of this model predicts that the cohesive strength should be constant independent of asteroid size, which creates a scale dependence with relative strength increasing as size decreases. This model counters classical theory that rubble pile asteroids should behave as scale-independent cohesionless collections of rocks. We explore a simple model for asteroid strength that is based on these weak forces, validate it through granular mechanics simulations and comparisons with properties of lunar regolith, and then explore its implications and ability to explain and predict observed properties of small asteroids in the NEA and Main Belt populations, and in particular of asteroid 2008 TC3. One conclusion is that the population of rapidly rotating asteroids could consist of both distributions of smaller grains (i.e., rubble piles) and of monolithic boulders.read more
Citations
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OSIRIS-REx: Sample Return from Asteroid (101955) Bennu
Dante S. Lauretta,S. S. Balram-Knutson,E. C. Beshore,William V. Boynton,C. Drouet d'Aubigny,Daniella DellaGiustina,H. L. Enos,Dathon Golish,Carl Hergenrother,Ellen S. Howell,Carina Bennett,E. T. Morton,Michael C. Nolan,Bashar Rizk,H. L. Roper,Arlin E. Bartels,Brent J. Bos,Jason P. Dworkin,D. E. Highsmith,D. A. Lorenz,Lucy F. Lim,Ronald G. Mink,Michael C. Moreau,Joseph A. Nuth,D. C. Reuter,Amy Simon,Edward B. Bierhaus,B. H. Bryan,Ronald-Louis Ballouz,Olivier S. Barnouin,Richard P. Binzel,William F. Bottke,Victoria E. Hamilton,Kevin J. Walsh,S. R. Chesley,Philip R. Christensen,Beth E. Clark,Harold C. Connolly,M. K. Crombie,Michael Daly,Josh Emery,Timothy J. McCoy,Jay W. McMahon,Daniel J. Scheeres,Scott Messenger,Keiko Nakamura-Messenger,Kevin Righter,Scott A. Sandford +47 more
TL;DR: The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft departed for near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu via an United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 evolved expendable launch vehicle at 7:05 p.m. EDT on September 8, 2016, on a seven-year journey to return samples from Bennu as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
The trajectory, structure and origin of the Chelyabinsk asteroidal impactor
Jiří Borovička,Pavel Spurný,Peter Brown,Paul Wiegert,Pavel Kalenda,David Clark,Lukáš Shrbený +6 more
TL;DR: An analysis of selected video records of the Chelyabinsk superbolide of 15 February 2013 found that its orbit was similar to the orbit of the two-kilometre-diameter asteroid 86039, to a degree of statistical significance sufficient to suggest that the two were once part of the same object.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cohesive forces prevent the rotational breakup of rubble-pile asteroid (29075) 1950 DA
TL;DR: It is reported that the kilometre-sized asteroid (29075) 1950 DA is a rubble pile that is rotating faster than is allowed by gravity and friction and that the strengths of the forces are comparable to, though somewhat less than, the forces found between the grains of lunar regolith.
Journal ArticleDOI
Landslides and Mass shedding on spinning spheroidal asteroids
TL;DR: In this paper, conditions for regolith landslides to occur on spinning, gravitating spheroidal asteroids and their aftermath are studied by application of classical granular mechanics stability analysis to the asteroid environment.
Journal ArticleDOI
The geophysical environment of Bennu
Daniel J. Scheeres,Siamak G. Hesar,Simon Tardivel,Masatoshi Hirabayashi,D. Farnocchia,Jay W. McMahon,S. R. Chesley,Olivier S. Barnouin,R. P. Binzel,William F. Bottke,Michael Daly,Josh Emery,Carl Hergenrother,Dante S. Lauretta,J. R. Marshall,P. Michel,Michael C. Nolan,Kevin J. Walsh +17 more
TL;DR: An analysis of the surface and interior state of Asteroid (101955) Bennu, the target asteroid of the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, is given using models based on Earth-based observations of this body.
References
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The Rubble-Pile Asteroid Itokawa as Observed by Hayabusa
Akira Fujiwara,Jun'ichiro Kawaguchi,D. K. Yeomans,Masanao Abe,Tadashi Mukai,Tatsuaki Okada,Jun Saito,Hajime Yano,Makoto Yoshikawa,Daniel J. Scheeres,Olivier S. Barnouin-Jha,A. F. Cheng,Hirohide Demura,R. W. Gaskell,Naru Hirata,H. Ikeda,T. Kominato,Hirdy Miyamoto,Akiko M. Nakamura,Ryosuke Nakamura,Sho Sasaki,K. Uesugi +21 more
TL;DR: During the interval from September through early December 2005, the Hayabusa spacecraft was in close proximity to near-Earth asteroid Itokawa, and a variety of data were taken on its shape, mass, and surface topography as well as its mineralogic and elemental abundances.
Journal ArticleDOI
Granular flow down an inclined plane: Bagnold scaling and rheology
Leonardo E. Silbert,Deniz Ertas,Gary S. Grest,Thomas C. Halsey,Dov Levine,Steven J. Plimpton +5 more
TL;DR: A systematic, large-scale simulation study of granular media in two and three dimensions, investigating the rheology of cohesionless granular particles in inclined plane geometries, finds that a steady-state flow regime exists in which the energy input from gravity balances that dissipated from friction and inelastic collisions is found.
Journal ArticleDOI
Radiative Spin-up and Spin-down of Small Asteroids
TL;DR: The Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect as mentioned in this paper may spin up or spin down 5-km-radius asteroids on a 108-year timescale.
Journal ArticleDOI
The asteroid lightcurve database
TL;DR: The Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) as mentioned in this paper is a central database for asteroid lightcurve data, i.e., rotation rate and amplitude along with ancillary information such as diameter and albedo, taxonomic class, etc.
Journal ArticleDOI
The relationship between attractive interparticle forces and bulk behaviour in dry and uncharged fine powders
TL;DR: The physics of granular materials in ambient gases is governed by interparticle forces, gas-particle interaction, geometry of particle positions and geometry of particles contacts as mentioned in this paper, which are strongly dependent on the external forces, boundary conditions and on the assembling procedure.
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