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An assessment of near-earth asteroid resourcesOn the basis of remote-sensing evidence and meteorite studies, a substantial fraction of small asteroids in near-earth space should contain abundant volatile (water, carbon, carbon compounds) and/or free metal (nickel-iron) materials. Although there are only about 40 known earth-approaching asteroids, this number could be increased by at least an order of magnitude in a few years by a dedicated search program with a large telescope (48 in. Schmidt). A discovery rate of 20 objects/yr could be expected from a facility costing about $3 million to establish. Relatively high-resolution, broad-wavelength coverage reflectance spectra could be made for many of these objects with a large telescope and instruments under development. Such spectra are necessary for detailed mineralogic, characterizations of these asteroids. Low-resolution survey survey spectra with similar wavelength coverage (UBVRIJHK filters) would provide useful characterizations of fainter objects.
Document ID
19790024064
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Other
Authors
Gaffey, M. J.
(Hawaii Univ. Honolulu, HI, United States)
Helin, E. F.
(California Inst. of Technol.)
Oleary, B.
(Princeton Univ.)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1979
Publication Information
Publication: NASA. Ames Res. Center Space Resources and Space Settlements
Subject Category
Astrodynamics
Accession Number
79N32235
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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