Piloted Missions to Near-Earth Objects via the Crew Exploration Vehicle

Details Piloted Missions to Near-Earth Objects via the Crew Exploration Vehicle Piloted Missions to Near-Earth Objects via the Crew Exploration Vehicle

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.0804a&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #8.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.422

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A recent study has examined the feasibility of sending the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to a near-Earth object (NEO). One of the significant advantages of this type of mission is that it validates the foundational infrastructure for the Vision for Space Exploration and Exploration Systems Architecture Study in the run up to the lunar sorties at the end of the next decade ( 2020). Sending a human expedition to a NEO demonstrates the broad utility of the Constellation Program's Orion CEV capsule and Ares launch systems. This mission would be the first human expedition to an interplanetary body outside of the Earth-Moon system and would help NASA regain crucial operational experience conducting crewed exploration missions outside of low-Earth orbit, which humanity has not attempted in nearly 40 years.
Such a mission would not only provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration, but would also provide the capability to conduct an in-depth scientific investigation of a NEO. Essential physical and geochemical properties of these objects can best be determined from dedicated spacecraft. In addition, a crewed vehicle would be able to test several different sample collection techniques, and target specific areas of interest via extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) much more capably than a robotic spacecraft. Such capabilities greatly enhance any scientific return from this type of mission. Missions to NEOs would also have practical applications for resource utilization and planetary defense, two issues that will be relevant in the not-too-distant future as humanity begins to explore, understand, and utilize the solar system. These scientific and practical aspects, along with the programmatic and operational benefits of a human venture into deep space, make a mission to a NEO using Constellation systems a compelling prospect.
This work is sponsored by NASA's Constellation Advanced Programs Office.

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