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Dr Ettore Perozzi

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Ettore Perozzi obtained a Laurea degree in physics in 1981 at the University of Rome (Italy). Main research interests are: celestial mechanics, dynamics of solar system bodies, near-Earth and interplanetary mission analysis, scientific and exploration missions, near-Earth objects (NEO) hazard and mitigation, education and public outreach.
He has worked at the CNR Space Astrophysics Institute (Roma, Italy), at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany), at Telespazio (Roma, Italy), at the Observatoire de Paris Meudon (France) and is currently at Deimos Space (Madid, Spain) as project manager of the ESA NEO Coordination Centre. 
Associated to INAF(National Space Astrophysics Institute), member of the Societa’ Italiana di Meccanica Celeste e Astrodinamica, member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Asteroid 10027 bears his name.

 

 

On the accessibility of the Near-Earth Asteroids
Near Earth Asteroids (NEA) represent increasingly attractive targets for space mission. The US mandate to discover all objects larger than 140m has fostered the improvement of ground- based surveys in terms of both, detection and follow-up performances. After the success of the WISE mission, orbiting observatories devoted to NEA detection have been or will be launched soon. Direct exploration for both, science and mitigation (e.g. sample return, deflection missions) are under study  or in an advanced phase of realization. The possibility to send a manned mission toward a Near Earth asteroid has also become a high priority and the Asteroid Retrieval Mission proposal is gaining an increasing momentum. In particular, small to intermediate size objects with low eccentricity and inclination orbits and semimajor axis close to 1 AU are a potential source of interesting targets for both, ground/space based observations and human exploration.
Within this framework the possibility of obtaining a general picture of the accessibility of the NEA population as a whole is extremely helpful when addressing space missions having different goals which, in turn, translate into different energy requirements. The H-plot representation is introduced to this end, and case studies are presented.


 

 
 
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