Abstract
An X-ray and Gamma-ray spectrometer (XGRS) is onboard the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft to determine the elemental composition of the surface of the asteroid 433Eros. The Eros asteroid is highly non-spherical in physical shape and the development of data management and analysis methodologies are in several areas a divergence from traditional remotely sensed geographical information systems techniques. Field of view and asteroid surface geometry must be derived virtually and then combined with real measurements of solar, spectral and instrument calibration information to derive meaningful scientific results. Spatial resolution of planned geochemical maps will be improved from the initial conditions of low statistical significance per integration by repeated surface flyovers and regional spectral accumulation. This paper describes the results of a collaborative effort of design and development of the NEAR XGRS instrument ground system undertaken by participants at the Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Arizona, Cornell University, Applied Physics Laboratory, and Max Plank institute.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 74-87 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 3768 |
| State | Published - 1999 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 1999 Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics - Denver, CO, USA Duration: Jul 19 1999 → Jul 23 1999 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering