JuRa: The Juventas Radar on Hera Mission to Probe Internal Structure of Didymos and Dimorphos Asteroids
Abstract
Abstract JuRa, the Juventas Radar, is the sounding radar of the Hera/ESA mission on cruise to the asteroid Didymos and its moon, Dimorphos. In 2027, it will, for the first time, do direct observation of the internal structure of an asteroid for the benefit of both science and planetary defense. The instrument is a 60 MHz monostatic radar with a 20 MHz bandwidth, operating in full linear polarization, onboard Juventas, a CubeSat that will operate from end of January to end of March 2027, in a sun-synchronous orbit with a radius ranging from 3.3 to 2 km. With an expected penetration depth of 100 meters or more, it will uncover the expected rubble pile structures of Didymos and Dimorphos, detect the presence of internal structures, and characterize the size and the level of heterogeneity of the constituent materials. This knowledge will provide a better understanding of the formation and stability conditions of a binary asteroids, and constrain physical models of accretion and evolution. This article describes the concept of radar sounding and tomographic imaging, then presents the Didymos and Dimorphos system and the objectives of JuRa. It then describes the JuRa’s specifications and design.
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Authors: Alain Hèrique, Dirk Plettemeier, Yves Rogez, Yann Berquin, Valérie Ciarletti, Wenzhe Fa, Christelle Eyraud, Mark Haynes, Essam Heggy, Amine Kechouindi, Takao Kobayashi, Wlodek Kofman, Matin Laabs, Dominik Nolbert, Elena Pettinelli, Sampsa Pursiainen, S. Rochat, Christian Schmid, Anne Virkki, Filip Záplata, Sonia Zine, Paul Abell, Ian Carnelli, Hannah Goldberg, Simon Green, Michael Küppers, Monica Lazzarin, Patrick Michel, Franco Perez Lissi, Seiji Sugita, Stephan Ulamec
Institutions: Peking University, University of Helsinki, University of Southern California, Université Grenoble Alpes, The University of Tokyo, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Roma Tre University, Technische Universität Dresden, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Tampere University, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, European Space Agency, The Open University, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, European Space Research and Technology Centre, Centrale Méditerranée, Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, European Space Astronomy Centre, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Centrum Badań Kosmicznych, Institut Fresnel, Astronika (Poland)