Space based Optical Barrier in the Problem of Asteroid Hazard
Abstract:
Different variants of Space Patrol System designed for discovering and cataloguing of hazard asteroids are investigated. The base idea of Space Patrol is creation of an «optical barrier» with the help of telescopes deployed on the heliocentric orbit. Difficulties associated with the relative motion of spacecraft’s telescopes and hazard objects and with necessity of estimation of their orbits are analyzed. Examples of observation conditions (angles, distances, velocities etc) at the moments when the hazard object crosses the barrier area are given. Characteristics of barrier are compared in cases of deployment the telescopes on heliocentric orbits of Earth, Venus and Mercury.
