The “Asteroid Nodal Intersection Multiple Encounters” (ANIME) mission concept has been developed in response to the 2020 Italian Space Agency (ASI) call for ideas for future CubeSat missions. ANIME aims to explore three near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), selected by virtue of their peculiar and yet unexplored size and physical regimes, as well as their relevance in terms of planetary protection. Thanks to an optimized trajectory, the targets are encountered during their passages through their orbital nodes. …
The “Asteroid Nodal Intersection Multiple Encounters” (ANIME) mission concept has been developed in response to the 2020 Italian Space Agency (ASI) call for ideas for future CubeSat missions. ANIME aims to explore three near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), selected by virtue of their peculiar and yet unexplored size and physical regimes, as well as their relevance in terms of planetary protection. Thanks to an optimized trajectory, the targets are encountered during their passages through their orbital nodes. The 12U ANIME spacecraft will flyby two “potentially hazardous asteroids”, and then rendezvous in 2028 with baseline target 2000 SG344. This 40-m-sized asteroid is an order of magnitude smaller than previously visited ones, and its study will allow us to constrain the latest theories about planetary system formation scenarios, addressing questions about the monolithic vs. cohesive vs. rubble-pile aggregation structure of small asteroids.
I will present and discuss the ANIME mission concept, which has been developed by a team from Italian INAF observatories and universities.
