MASCOT operations on Ryugu – Focus on specific tasks

Paper number

IAC-19,A3,4B,2,x51077

Author

Mr. Christian Krause, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Ms. Aurelie MoussiSoffys, France, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)

Coauthor

Mrs. Laurence Lorda, France, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)

Coauthor

Dr. Tra Mi Ho, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Dr. Jens Biele, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Dr. Stephan Ulamec, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Mrs. Caroline Lange, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Clement Dudal, France, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)

Coauthor

Mrs. Celine Cenac-Morthe, France, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)

Coauthor

Mr. David Granena, France, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)

Coauthor

Mr. Michael Maibaum, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Mrs. Cinzia Fantinati, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Prof. Jean-Pierre Bibring, France, IAS

Coauthor

Prof. Ralf Jaumann, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Prof. Karl Heinz GLASSMEIER, Germany, University of Braunschweig

Coauthor

Dr. David Hercik, Germany, TU Braunschweig

Coauthor

Dr. Matthias Grott, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Ms. Nicole Schmitz, Germany, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

Coauthor

Mr. Kagan Kayal, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Mr. Jan Thimo Grundmann, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Dr. Elisabet Canalias, France, CNES

Coauthor

Mr. Kaname Sasaki, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Coauthor

Dr. Tatsuaki Okada, Japan, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Coauthor

Dr. Tetsuo Yoshimitsu, Japan, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Coauthor

Dr. Yuichi Tsuda, Japan, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Coauthor

Mrs. Friederike Wolff, Germany, DLR (German Aerospace Center)

Year

2019

Abstract

Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample return mission operated by the Japanese space agency, JAXA. It was launched in December 2014. In July 2018, the spacecraft has reached the mission target after a 4-year-long cruise. The objective is a C-type primordial asteroid called Ryugu, in search of organic and hydrated minerals that might give essential clues for the solar system formation. 
The small lander MASCOT (Mobile Asteroid surface SCOuT) carried aboard Hayabusa2 landed on the surface on the 3rd of October 2018 for preliminary in-situ investigations while the probe is aiming to study Ryugu on a global scale and to return samples to Earth. 
MASCOT was jointly developed by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). It is equipped with a sensor suite consisting of four fully-fledged instruments. DLR was responsible for developing the MASCOT lander and ground segment, and was in charge of planning and conducting lander joint operations from MUSC. CNES supplied the hyperspectral IR spectrometer (MicrOmega, IAS Paris), antennae and power system, provided a support to operations and was in charge of the flight dynamics aspects of the mission.
The 17 hours of on-asteroid operations exceeded expectations and the overall landing and operations were a huge success. Indeed the characteristics of the Ryugu asteroid such as the shape and the gravity were known only after arrival of Hayabusa2 in July 2018 and the operating ccontext was very constrained but did not provide from fulfilling the objectives. 
This paper is a complement to the overall paper on MASCOT landing and first results. It will focus on several operational tasks such as communication and power subsystems assessments as well as flight dynamics computations needed in real time and a posteriori.

Abstract document

IAC-19,A3,4B,2,x51077.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-19,A3,4B,2,x51077.doc (🔒 authorized access only).

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