ISTS 2006-k-26 ESA ’ S DON QUIJOTE MISSION : AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF AN ARTIFICIAL IMPACT CRATER ON AN ASTEROID

The European Space Agency (ESA) in recent years has been investigating the implications of using the space segment as a NEO impact mitigation asset. Through the General Studies Program several mission concepts were studied and, in particular, the attention has been focused on the Don Quijote mission. This mission would demonstrate our ability to perturb the trajectory of a small near-Earth asteroid by a measurable amount. Also, as a secondary objective, it would deploy an autonomous surface package that would provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate in-situ primitive, unexposed subsurface material uncovered as a result of the impact. This paper describes the Don Quijote mission and, in particular, the opportunity for the investigation of the artificial impact crater on the target asteroid by means of the autonomous surface package.