this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2025
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[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Huh didn't think the keyhole event was til 2028 swingby. Neat. Wonder if Esa or Jacsa can get probes up in time for its next approach.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I misspoke. I meant "will miss", we've got enough observations that we know the "keyhole event" that was a possibility is no longer a possibility.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Fair. All jokes and nihilism aside. Someone should take advantage of the flyby to send something up to study it.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I think it's hard to justify since we've already done a successful asteroid rendezvous (a few, IIRC) and it's unclear (to me) what we could learn from studying the surface of this particular one or even studying from the surface of this one.

If we knew how to move it from solar orbit to terrestrial or lunar orbit and then use it as raw materials, that might be profitable. Or at least a nice engineering challenge on the way to profitable asteroid mining. But, I think the delta-V we'd have to achieve for that might me more than we are capable of right now.

I do wonder if we could put something on it and use it as part of a measurement tool, like how they can stitch together multiple 'scope sensors? I forget what the name of that is. Differential capture? Diffusion imaging?

It is an interesting opportunity, we rarely get such close flybys well predicted, but someone closer to the science / smarter than me would have to put together a mission plan.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Hence my wanting it done. 'We don't get close flybies all that often. Make the most of it.'