Earth mini- moons testing grounds for space missions

Washington: Earth’s minimoons — small asteroids temporarily captured in the planet’s orbit — could used as test- beds for research and commercial space activities in the future, say scientists. These small and fastmoving visitors have so- far evaded detection by existing technology, with only one confirmed mini- moon discovery to date. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope ( LSST), which is currently under construction will verify their existence and track their paths around our planet, presenting exciting scientific and commercial opportunities, according to study published in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science. “Minimoons can provide interesting science and technology testbeds in near- Earth space. These asteroids are delivered towards Earth from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter via gravitational interactions with the Sun and planets in our solar system,” said lead author Robert Jedicke, based at the University of Hawaii in the US. “The challenge lies in finding these small objects, despite their close proximity,” Jedicke said. “At present we don't fully understand what asteroids are made of,” said Mikael Granvik, affiliated with Lulea University of Technology in Sweden and University of Helsinki in Finland. “Missions typically return only tiny amounts of material to Earth. Meteorites provide an indirect way of analysing asteroids,” said Granvik.—