Small Body

Small body exploration focuses on understanding the physical properties and gravitational fields of asteroids, comets, and other minor celestial bodies. Current research emphasizes developing autonomous navigation and control systems for spacecraft operating in the vicinity of these irregularly shaped and gravitationally complex objects, employing techniques like deep learning for feature detection and spherical harmonics or machine learning models for gravity field estimation. These advancements are crucial for enabling safe and efficient sample return missions, resource utilization, and furthering our understanding of early solar system formation and planetary evolution.