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Reasons for not Having an Early Asteroid Mission

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Edward Anders
Edward Anders*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago

Extract

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Let me first emphasize the area of agreement with Professor Alfvén. I, too, believe that the asteroids are of very great scientific interest; great enough to justify space missions some day. What we differ on is the timing and target selection for these missions (Alfvén and Arrhenius, 1970, and in this volume). I look upon space missions as a tremendously expensive way of obtaining scientific data, which should not be attempted until all available alternatives are exhausted. Ground-based research on asteroids and meteorites is nowhere near exhaustion; on the contrary, it is moving at an impressive pace. If we maintain this pace for another decade or two, we will not only have answered most of the questions posed for an early mission, but will be able to come up with a more worthwhile, more informative mission.

Type
Part III-Possible Space Missions and Future Work
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 12: Physical Studies of Minor Planets , 1971 , pp. 479 - 487
Copyright
Copyright © NASA 1971

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