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New Moon Explorer Mission ConceptNew Moon Explorer (NME) is a smallsat reconnaissance mission concept to explore Earth’s ‘New Moon’, the recently discovered Earth orbital companion asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (formerly 2016HO3), using solar sail propulsion. NME would determine Kamoʻoalewa’s spin rate, pole position, shape, structure, mass, density, chemical composition, temperature, thermal inertia, regolith characteristics, and spectral type using onboard instrumentation. If flown, NME would demonstrate multiple enabling technologies, including solar sail propulsion, large-area thin film power generation, and small spacecraft technology tailored for interplanetary space missions. Leveraging the solar sail technology and mission expertise developed by NASA for the Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission, affordably learning more about our newest near neighbor is now a possibility. The mission is not yet planned for flight.
Document ID
20190028699
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Johnson, Les (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Carr, John (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Dervan, Jared (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Few, Alexander (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Heaton, Andy (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Malphrus, Benjamin (Morehead State Univ. Morehead, KY, United States)
McNutt, Leslie (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Nuth, Joe (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Turse, Dana (Roccor, LLC Longmont, CO, United States)
Zucherman, Aaron (Morehead State Univ. Morehead, KY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 1, 2019
Publication Date
July 30, 2019
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
MSFC-E-DAA-TN70268
Report Number: MSFC-E-DAA-TN70268
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Symposium on Solar Sailing
Location: Aachen
Country: Germany
Start Date: July 30, 2019
End Date: August 2, 2019
Sponsors: Fachhochschule
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Technical Review
Single Expert

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