@inproceedings{GrundmannBauerBieleetal.2018, author = {Grundmann, Jan Thimo and Bauer, Waldemar and Biele, Jens and Boden, Ralf and Ceriotti, Matteo and Cordero, Federico and Dachwald, Bernd and Dumont, Etienne and Grimm, Christian D. and Herč{\´i}k, David and Ho, Tra-Mi and Jahnke, Rico and Koch, Aaron D and Koncz, Alexander and Krause, Christian and Lange, Caroline and Lichtenheldt, Roy and Maiwald, Volker and Mikschl, Tobias and Mikulz, Eugen and Montenegro, Sergio and Pelivan, Ivanka and Peloni, Alessandro and Quantius, Dominik and Reershemius, Siebo and Renger, Thomas and Riemann, Johannes and Ruffer, Michael and Sasaki, Kaname and Schmitz, Nicole and Seboldt, Wolfgang and Seefeldt, Patric and Spietz, Peter and Spr{\"o}witz, Tom and Sznajder, Maciej and Tardivel, Simon and T{\´o}th, Norbert and Wejmo, Elisabet and Wolff, Friederike and Ziach, Christian}, title = {Small spacecraft based multiple near-earth asteroid rendezvous and landing with near-term solar sails and 'Now-Term 'technologies}, series = {69 th International Astronautical Congress (IAC)}, booktitle = {69 th International Astronautical Congress (IAC)}, pages = {1 -- 18}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Physical interaction with small solar system bodies (SSSB) is the next step in planetary science, planetary in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and planetary defense (PD). It requires a broader understanding of the surface properties of the target objects, with particular interest focused on those near Earth. Knowledge of composition, multi-scale surface structure, thermal response, and interior structure is required to design, validate and operate missions addressing these three fields. The current level of understanding is occasionally simplified into the phrase, "If you've seen one asteroid, you've seen one asteroid", meaning that the in-situ characterization of SSSBs has yet to cross the threshold towards a robust and stable scheme of classification. This would enable generic features in spacecraft design, particularly for ISRU and science missions. Currently, it is necessary to characterize any potential target object sufficiently by a dedicated pre-cursor mission to design the mission which then interacts with the object in a complex fashion. To open up strategic approaches, much broader in-depth characterization of potential target objects would be highly desirable. In SSSB science missions, MASCOT-like nano-landers and instrument carriers which integrate at the instrument level to their mothership have met interest. By its size, MASCOT is compatible with small interplanetary missions. The DLR-ESTEC Gossamer Roadmap Science Working Groups' studies identified Multiple Near-Earth asteroid (NEA) Rendezvous (MNR) as one of the space science missions only feasible with solar sail propulsion. The Solar Polar Orbiter (SPO) study showed the ability to access any inclination, theDisplaced-L1 (DL1) mission operates close to Earth, where objects of interest to PD and for ISRU reside. Other studies outline the unique capability of solar sails to provide access to all SSSB, at least within the orbit of Jupiter, and significant progress has been made to explore the performance envelope of near-term solar sails for MNR. However, it is difficult for sailcraft to interact physically with a SSSB. We expand and extend the philosophy of the recently qualified DLR Gossamer solar sail deployment technology using efficient multiple sub-spacecraft integration to also include landers for one-way in-situ investigations and sample-return missions by synergetic integration and operation of sail and lander. The MASCOT design concept and its characteristic features have created an ideal counterpart for thisand has already been adapted to the needs of the AIM spacecraft, former part of the NASA-ESA AIDA missionDesigning the 69th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Bremen, Germany, 1-5 October 2018. IAC-18-F1.2.3 Page 2 of 17 combined spacecraft for piggy-back launch accommodation enables low-cost massively parallel access to the NEA population.}, language = {en} }