Assessing the Age of an Asteroid's Surface with Data from the International Rosetta Mission

Rosetta is an international mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA) with key support and instrumentation from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Rosetta is currently on a ten-year mission to catch comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (C-G); throughout its voyage, the spacecraft has performed flybys of two main belt asteroids (MBA): Steins and Lutetia. Data on the physical, chemical, and geological properties of these asteroids are currently being processed and analyzed. Accurate interpretation of such data is fundamental in the success of Rosetta's mission and overall objectives. Post-flyby data analyses strive to correlate the size, shape, volume, and rotational rate of Lutetia, in addition to interpreting its multi-color imagining, albedo, and spectral mapping. Although advancements in science have contributed to the examination of celestial bodies, methods to analyze asteroids remain largely empirical, not semi-empirical, nor ab initio. This study aims to interpret and document the scientific methods currently utilized in the characterization of asteroid (21) Lutetia in order to render these processes and methods accessible to the public. Examples include a standardized technique for assessing the age of an asteroid surface, complete with clickable reference maps, methodology of grouping surface characteristics together, and a standardized power law equation for the age. Other examples include determining the density of an object. Context for what both density and age mean is a bi-product of this study. Results of the study will aid in the development of pedagogical material on asteroids for public use, and in creation of an academic database for selected targets that might be used as a reference.