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When creating asteroid regolith simulant, it is necessary to have a model of asteroid regolith to guide and to evaluate the simulant. We created a model through evaluation and synthesis of the available data sets including (1) the returned sample from Itokawa by the Hayabusa spacecraft, (2) imagery from the Hayabusa and NEAR spacecraft visiting Itokawa and Eros, respectively, (3) thermal infrared observations from asteroids, (4) the texture of meteorite regolith breccias, and (5) observations and modeling of the ejecta clouds from disrupted asteroids. Comparison of the Hayabusa returned sample with other data sets suggest the surficial material in the smooth regions of asteroids is dissimilar to the bulk regolith, probably due to removal of fines by photoionization and solar wind interaction or by preferential migration of mid-sized particles into the smooth terrain. We found deep challenges interpreting and applying the thermal infrared data so we were unable to use those observations in the model. Texture of regolith breccias do not agree with other data sets, suggesting the source regolith on Vesta was coarser than typical asteroid regolith. The observations of disrupted asteroids present a coherent picture of asteroid bulk regolith in collisional equilibrium, unlike lunar regolith, HED textures, and the Itokawa returned sample. The model we adopt consists of power laws for the bulk regolith in unspecified terrain (differential power index -3.5, representing equilibrium), and the surficial regolith in smooth terrain (differential power index -2.5, representing disequilibrium). Available data do not provide adequate constraints on maximum and minimum particle sizes for these power laws, so the model treats them as user-selectable parameters for the simulant.
NASA has developed a Figure of Merit method to grade the fidelity of lunar simulants for scientific and engineering purposes. Here we extend the method to grade asteroid simulants, both regolith and cobble variety, and we apply the method to the newl
(16) Psyche is the largest M-type asteroid in the main belt and the target of the NASA Discovery-class Psyche mission. Despite gaining considerable interest in the scientific community, Psyches composition and formation remain unconstrained. Original
Orbit-determination programs find the orbit solution that best fits a set of observations by minimizing the RMS of the residuals of the fit. For near-Earth asteroids, the uncertainty of the orbit solution may be compatible with trajectories that impa
The small atmosphereless objects of our solar system, such as asteroids, the moon are covered by layer of dust particles known as regolith, formed by meteoritic impact. The light scattering studies of such dust layer by laboratory experiment and nume
Small aperture telescopes provide the opportunity to conduct high frequency, targeted observations of near-Earth Asteroids that are not feasible with larger facilities due to highly competitive time allocation requirements. Observations of asteroids