- American Astronomical Society’s 240th Meeting: Plenary Lecture Building the Future of Radio Science with the Arecibo Observatory by Dr. Héctor Arce. 28 Jul, 2022
- TRENDS 202227 Jul, 2022
- Advancing IDEA in Planetary Science 27 Jul, 2022
- The Arecibo Observatory: An Engine for Science and Scientists in Puerto Rico and Beyond27 Jul, 2022
- Cryogenic Frontend work for the 12m telescope entering phase II21 Jul, 2022
- A Parkes “Murriyang” Search for Pulsars and Fast Transients in the Large Magellanic Cloud 11 Jul, 2022
- A Comparison of Multiphase Magnetic Field Tracers in a High Galactic Latitude Region of the Filamentary Interstellar Medium 11 Jul, 2022
- The First Observation of Additional Ionospheric Layers Over Arecibo Using an Incoherent Scatter Radar11 Jul, 2022
- Decoding the star forming properties of gas-rich galaxy pairs11 Jul, 2022
- Crater Ejecta Across Maxwell Montes, Venus, and Possible Effects on Future Rock Type Measurements 11 Jul, 2022
- On Single-pulse Energies of Some Bright Pulsars Observed at 1.7 GHz11 Jul, 2022
- Probing the Local Interstellar Medium with Scintillometry of the Bright Pulsar B1133 + 16 11 Jul, 2022
- Arecibo Celebrates National Engineers Week 06 Apr, 2022
- The Arecibo Observatory at the Upcoming 240th American Astronomical Society Meeting06 Apr, 2022
- The Arecibo Observatory Survey Salvage Committee Report06 Apr, 2022
- Facilities and Operations Update06 Apr, 2022
Analyzing Gravitational Fields Around Small Bodies in Support of Future Spacecraft Missions
Byadmin09 September 2020 Planetary

Planetary |
Understanding how the gravitational field around a comet or asteroid could affect an orbiting spacecraft is extremely important for the exploration of those objects.
In a recent publication of the Planetary and Space Science journal, AO scientist Dr. Flaviane Venditti and her team tested a new mapping technique to identify the orbits around comets and asteroids that are least affected by the objects’ gravity.
“Knowing which orbits would generate the least perturbation on a spacecraft could minimize the need for station-keeping maneuvers, lowering the cost and simplifying the mission logistics,” Dr. Venditti explained.
“Knowing which orbits would generate the least perturbation on a spacecraft could minimize the need for station-keeping maneuvers, lowering the cost and simplifying the mission logistics,” - Dr. Flaviane Venditti, Planetary Scientist at Arecibo Observatory
Importantly, the team developed these orbital maps using more realistic shapes for the asteroids and comets, rather than assuming they were spherical. Their analysis also assessed how easily a particle’s (or a spacecraft’s) orbit around the targets could be changed from its original path.
“The planetary radar observations we conduct with the Arecibo Observatory are highly complementary to these dynamical studies,” expressed Dr. Venditti. “One of the main goals of planetary radar is to determine the physical properties of asteroids, like their shapes and sizes. These properties are needed before we can computationally model the gravitational environment of those objects.”
Dr. Venditti concluded, “Thus, planetary radar observations and theoretical dynamical studies build on one another and are both critical for assisting with space exploration and mission planning.”
About Arecibo
The Arecibo Planetary Radar Program is funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program. The Arecibo Observatory is operated by the University of Central Florida (UCF) in partnership with Universidad Ana G. Mendez - Universidad Metropolitana and Yang Enterprises Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Article written by Dr. Tracy Becker - AO Collaborator / SwRI Research Scientist
Contact: tbecker@swri.edu |
Head of Planetary Radar team |
Keywords: arecibo, observatory, planetary, orbits, venditti, asteroid, gravitational, field, exploration