Global ETD Search
Search theses and dissertations gathered from participating repositories worldwide. Every result links back to the library that holds it. No account is needed.
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Showing 1 to 17 of 17 for “"Near-Earth Asteroid"”.
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Identifying near-earth asteroid targets for human exploration using particle swarm optimization
The goal of this thesis is to identify potential Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) that are viable candidates for human exploration. The computational method incorporated to help identify these targets is the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique, a metaheuristic swarming algorithm. The optimizer …
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From research to resource piloting near-Earth asteroids Through the Valley of Death
Can the resources of near-Earth asteroids be profitably mined? Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) contain water, which can serve as a fuel in space, and platinum group metals, which are valuable on Earth. The presence of these resources has prompted high valuations of the near-Earth asteroid population, …
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ROAD : Rapid Optical Asteroid Detection
… blind search problem, which seeks to identify near-Earth asteroids of arbitrary position and velocity using ground-based optical systems. In the process of establishing the optimality of these algorithms, we formalize the blind search streak detection problem and survey several other state of …
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Application of ion electrospray propulsion to lunar and interplanetary missions
… a second case study focusing on exploration of a near-earth asteroid.
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Macro-scale space systems for geoengineering
… facing the future of human presence on the Earth. These are the effects of a changing climate and the finite resources of Earth. This thesis sets out several space-based scenarios that can be implemented to reduce these pressures, namely space-based geoengineering to offset the effect of a …
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Design of transfers from Earth-Moon L 1/L2 libration point orbits to a destination object
… and robotic spaceflight activities, orbits near the Earth-Moon L1 and L2 libration points could support lunar surface operations and serve as staging areas for future missions to near-Earth asteroids as well as Mars. In fact, an Earth-Moon L2 libration point orbit has been proposed as a …
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Observational constraints on the number, albedos, size, and impact hazards of the near-Earth asteroids
… work provides a statistical description of the near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) in terms of number, orbital parameters, reflectance spectra, albedos, diameters, and terrestrial and lunar collision rates. I estimate the size and shape of the NEA population using survey data from the Lincoln Near-Earth …
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An Alternative Dual-Launch Architecture for a Crewed Asteroid Mission
… is a feasibility study for a crewed mission to a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA). An alternate dual-launch architecture is proposed and analyzed against a more established architecture. Instead of a rendezvous in a low-Earth parking orbit, the new architecture performs the rendezvous while the two …
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Surface characteristics of near-earth objects
Asteroids are thought to be the source of all meteorites found on Earth. Numerous spectroscopic studies have been performed to try and link certain types of meteorites with certain classes of asteroids in space. However, these spectroscopic studies of meteorites and asteroids have often shown a …
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Mechanical design, calibration, and environmental protection of the REXIS DAM
… experiment aboard OSIRIS-Rex, an asteroid sample return mission sponsored by the NASA New Frontiers program. OSIRISREx is scheduled to launch to near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2016. REXIS is a coded-mask imaging X-ray spectrometer that supports the missions scientific goals by …
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Technology and architecture : informing investment decisions for the future of human space exploration
… designs for future human spaceflight beyond Earth orbit remain unspecified. Given this uncertainty, it is not clear exactly which technologies are necessary for enabling future exploration. The process of establishing technology development strategy relies on methods to evaluate the benefits …
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A flexible, modular approach to integrated space exploration campaign logistics modeling, simulation, and analysis
… capacity under existing resupply strategies. A near-Earth asteroid exploration details a two crew, 14-day tele-operated mission at 1999- AO10 to establish the feasibility requirements of using modified Constellation vehicle architectures. A lunar outpost exploration models the buildup of …
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Orbital Maneuvers and Interplanetary Trajectory Design via Reinforcement Learning
… and computational limitations in highly nonlinear or uncertain environments pose significant challenges for future autonomous space missions.</p> <p>To address these challenges, this research proposes a reinforcement learning framework in which spacecraft learn to generate continuous …
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On the dynamics, navigation and control of a spacecraft formation of solar concentrators in the proximity of an asteroid
… is a viable method for the deflection of a Near Earth Asteroid. From a research view point, the methods and analysis are applicable to proximal motion around a celestial body, in particular one with a non-Keplerian or irregular orbit as in the case here with the orbit being constantly …
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The engineering design of the REXIS Solar X-ray Monitor and risk management considerations for resource constrained payload development
… travel to, survey, and return a sample from the near-earth asteroid Bennu. One of five hosted payloads, REXIS images the asteroid in the soft x-ray spectrum. The REXIS science goals are to classify Bennu among the meteorite groups and spatially map surface elemental distributions. To accomplish …
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The formation and evolution of planetary systems
… own. In particular, the preponderance of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes (planets with radii smaller than Neptune's but larger than Earth's) at short orbital radii has challenged planet formation theories developed in the context of our own Solar System. How and where these planets form remains …
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Multiple Asteroid Retrieval Mission
… a fleet of spacecraft capable of reaching Near-Earth asteroids. To analyze this idea, the goal of this problem is to maximize the asteroid mass retrieved within a spacecraft max life span. Explicitly, the maximum lifetime of the spacecraft fleet is set at 30 years. A fuel supply-chain is …