Date of Award

12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences

First Advisor

Manasvi Lingam

Second Advisor

Csaba Palotai

Third Advisor

Boris Akhremitchev

Fourth Advisor

David C. Fleming

Abstract

Near-Earth asteroids will become primary targets for space industrialization in the future as humanity becomes a multi-planetary species. But before such missions, it is necessary to survey these asteroids for their intrinsic scientific value. Exploring asteroids via orbiter missions can help us understand the asteroid's surface composition while providing us a cost and power model required for future missions. Therefore, it is beneficial to study asteroids to pave the way for future mining operations or more comprehensive scientific explorations. Hence, in this thesis, the target asteroids 2011 UW158 and 65803 Didymos are selected as case studies for the hypothetical mission Arion 33. The primary mission requirements, such as the payload instrumentation, orbital trajectories, total delta-V and fuel needed, and the mass, power, and cost requirements, are delineated in the thesis.

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