| Mission type | Asteroid flyby |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Mission duration | 2 years (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | ≈ 182 kg (401 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2022 (proposed) |
| Flyby of 2 Pallas | |
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Athena was a proposed space mission that would have performed a single flyby of asteroid 2 Pallas, the third largest asteroid in the Solar System.[1]
If Athena had been funded, it was planned to share the launch vehicle with the Psyche and Janus spacecraft and fly its own trajectory for a Mars gravity assist to slingshot into the asteroid belt. It would have taken about two years to reach Pallas.[1] The mission's principal investigator was Joseph O'Rourke, at Arizona State University.
The Athena spacecraft was examined in Category 1 of the 2018 NASA SIMPLEx competition and was eliminated before reaching Category 2; it will possibly be proposed at a later unknown time.[2] The Athena mission was beaten by other mission concepts such as the TransOrbital TrailBlazer lunar orbiter.[3]
- ^ a b Dorminey, Bruce (10 March 2019). "Proposed NASA SmallSat Mission Could Be First To Visit Pallas, Our Third Largest Asteroid". Forbes. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Athena: A SmallSat Mission to (2) Pallas". Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ Finalists Selected for NASA’s SIMPLEx Program 24 June 2019