Elemental mapping of asteroid 1989ML from MUSES-C orbiter Original Research Article

X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of a near-earth asteroid has been planned to determine major elemental composition of the asteroid surface and its regional variation from the MUSES-C orbiter, which will be launched in 2002 by the M-V vehicle. We present the characteristics of the XRS instrument and its observation plan during the mission. We numerically simulated x-ray fluorescence spectrometry of asteroid that rotates in 19-hour period and has surface geologic anomaly and we investigated achievable spatial resolution through the XRS observation during the asteroid rendezvous phase.