Adventures in near-Earth object exploration.
Asteroids, because of the hazard they pose to Earth, are compelling targets for robotic and human space exploration. Yet because of their exotic low-gravity environment, simply landing on an asteroid appears to be much more challenging than we had appreciated 5 or 10 years ago. Thanks to a bold new mission from Japan that has made the first asteroid sample return attempt, this goal is now within our reach.
Asphaug
Erik
E
Earth Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. asphaug@pmc.ucsc.edu