Marco Polo: Near-Earth Object Sample Return Mission

Details Marco Polo: Near-Earth Object Sample Return Mission Marco Polo: Near-Earth Object Sample Return Mission

Sep 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.3201a&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #32.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.450

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Scientific paper

MARCO POLO is a joint European-Japanese sample return mission to a Near-Earth Object (NEO), selected by ESA in the framework of COSMIC VISION 2015-2025 for an assessment study scheduled to last until October 2009. This Euro-Asian mission will go to a primitive Near-Earth Object (NEO), such as C or D-type, scientifically characterize it at multiple scales, and bring samples back to Earth for detailed scientific investigation.
NEOs are part of the small body population in the Solar System, which are leftover building blocks of the Solar System formation process. They offer important clues to the chemical mixture from which planets formed about 4.6 billion years ago. The scientific objectives of Marco Polo will therefore contribute to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System, the Earth, and the potential contribution of primitive material to the formation of Life.
Marco Polo is based on a launch with a Soyuz Fregat and consists of a Mother Spacecraft (MSC), possibly carrying a lander. The MSC would approach the target asteroid and spend a few months for global characterization of the target to select a sampling site. Then, the MSC would then descend to retrieve several samples which will be transferred to a Sample Return Capsule (SRC). The MSC would return to Earth and release the SRC into the atmosphere for ground recovery. The sample of the NEO will then be available for detailed investigation in ground-based laboratories.
In parallel to JAXA considering how to perform the mission, ESA has performed a Marco Polo study in their Concurrent Design Facility (CDF). Two parallel industrial studies will start in September 2008 to be conducted in Europe for one year.
The scientific objectives addressed by the mission and the current status of the mission study (ESA-JAXA) will be presented and discussed.

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