Publications by authors named "Colas Q Robin"
Images collected during NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission provide the first resolved views of the Didymos binary asteroid system. These images reveal that the primary asteroid, Didymos, is flattened and has plausible undulations along its equatorial perimeter. At high elevations, its surface is rough and contains large boulders and craters; at low elevations its surface is smooth and possesses fewer large boulders and craters.
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- Planetary defense research is heavily dependent on understanding the mechanical properties of asteroids, which are challenging to assess from Earth.
- A study of boulders on the asteroid Dimorphos, using data from the DART mission, revealed an estimated internal friction angle of 32.7 ± 2. 5°, indicating they likely formed from impact processing.
- The similarities between Dimorphos boulders and those on other rubble-pile asteroids (Itokawa, Ryugu, and Bennu) suggest a shared formation process and enhance our understanding of asteroid characteristics and the implications for planetary defense strategies.
Although no known asteroid poses a threat to Earth for at least the next century, the catalogue of near-Earth asteroids is incomplete for objects whose impacts would produce regional devastation. Several approaches have been proposed to potentially prevent an asteroid impact with Earth by deflecting or disrupting an asteroid. A test of kinetic impact technology was identified as the highest-priority space mission related to asteroid mitigation.
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