Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Oct 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.4917c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #49.17; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.1006
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
The Primitive Material Explorer (PriME) Mission is a proposed Discovery mission that will rendezvous with comet 46P/Wirtanen in 2021 in order to 1) clarify the roles played by comets in the formation and evolution of the Solar System and the origin of life; 2) ascertain the bulk physical properties, the surface geology, and the sources of activity in a fresh comet nucleus; and 3) investigate the compositional diversity of primitive material in the Solar System. PriME teams an experienced group of comet scientists (led by PI Anita Cochran and by DPI Harold Weaver) with university and industrial partners.
The PriME payload accomplishes the mission objectives with only three instruments. MASPEX (MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration) has higher mass resolution and is more sensitive than any mass spectrometer ever flown. MASPEX will measure D/H in H2O, noble gases, isotopes of many species, and complex molecular compounds to test solar nebula models and the role comets played in delivering water and other biologically important materials throughout the Solar System. The VIS (Visible Imaging System), consisting of a Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) and Wide-Angle Camera (WAC), will constrain the conditions under which the building blocks of the outer Solar System were assembled by measuring key physical properties of the nucleus of 46P/Wirtanen. Using the radio antenna and close flybys of the nucleus, PriME will determine the mass of the nucleus to an accuracy of 1% and the bulk density and average porosity of the nucleus to better than 5%. All spacecraft subsystems have significant planetary flight heritage. The spacecraft is a high-heritage derivative of the Kepler and Deep Impact spacecrafts, compatible with the three launch vehicle families specified in the Discovery Announcement of Opportunity.
Cochran Anita L.
Engineering Teams
Science PriME
Weaver Harold A.
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