Detection of mass, shape and surface roughness of target asteroid of MUSES-C by LIDAR Original Research Article

The Light Detection And Ranging instrument (LIDAR) is a laser altimeter to be launched with the MUSES-C spacecraft. This ranging function of LIDAR will be applied also to measure the gravitational field around the target asteroid, as well as its shape and surface roughness. Theoretical simulations for the free fall trajectories of the spacecraft suggest that we can estimate the mass of the asteroid with the error of about 5∼7 % by LIDAR. Loboratory measurements of laser backscattering by regolith analogue material showed that the reflected intensity decreased with increasing incident angle relative to normal intensity. The variation becomes weak when the target is covered with regolith compared to the reflected intensity from bedrock.