Ah, Pallas Athena. I see what they did there.
NASA is apparently thinking of sending a tiny satellite to a gigantic asteroid named Pallas out there in the asteroid belt. Pallas is currently the third largest asteroid known to man, but aside from that, it remains largely unexplored. While that already makes this protoplanet interesting enough, scientists are also compelled to explore it due to the theory that Pallas may be the missing link between dwarf planet Ceres and Vesta, the second largest main body in the whole of asteroid belt.
If the plan goes through, the tiny satellite will be called ‘Athena,’ named after the Greek goddess of wisdom. One of Arizona State University’s planetary scientists, Joseph O’Rourke, tells Forbes, “Because Pallas is unexplored, it is a more compelling destination now for a small mission like Athena that is designed to pluck low-hanging [scientific] fruit.”
O’Rourke is also Athena’s principal investigator. “We’re competing against 11 other SmallSat and CubeSat mission proposals with selections by NASA for the next round of development anticipated in mid-April. I’m tortured by optimism.”
The mission is planning to launch some time in 2022. This could help further the development of space exploration, if successful. “First-order characterization and geologic mapping of Pallas by a small, innovative mission like Athena are vital to planning detailed follow-up measurements for a future mission,” O’Rourke says.
