THUILLET , Florian

This thesis aims for a better understanding of the dynamics of regolith in a low-gravity environment through numerical simulations. It is incorporated within the framework and operations of two sample-return missions towards near-Earth asteroids, JAXA's Hayabusa2 and NASA's OSIRIS-REx. The simulations were performed with the numerical N-body...

International audience

Even if craters are very common on Solar System body surfaces, crater formation in granular media such as the ones covering most of visited asteroids still needs to be better understood, above all in low-gravity environments. JAXA's sample return mission Hayabusa2, currently visiting asteroid (162173) Ryugu, is a perfect opportunity for...

In 2018, the mother spacecraft of the Hayabusa2 mission will release the lander MASCOT above the surface of the asteroid (162173) Ryugu. The lander will impact the regolith layer of the asteroid at low speed. While the descent trajectory of MASCOT is well determined before its release, its behavior once it touches the surface of Ryugu remains a...

With the flourishing number of small body missions that involve surface interactions,understanding the mechanics of spacecraft - surface interactions is crucial for improving ourknowledge about the landing phases of space missions, for preparing spacecraft operations,and for interpreting the results of measurements made during the surface...

Context. The JAXA asteroid sample return mission Hayabusa2 reached its target (162173) Ryugu in June 2018 and released the European (CNES-DLR) lander MASCOT in October 2018. MASCOT successfully landed on the surface, and the Hayabusa2 Optical Navigation Camera system has been able to image parts of the MASCOT trajectory.Aims. This work builds...

Context. Landing on the surface of small bodies is particularly challenging, as the physical properties of the surface material are not well known and the mechanical response of this material in a low-gravity environment is not well understood.Aims. In order to improve our understanding of low-speed impact processes on granular media and their...

Context. The JAXA asteroid sample return mission Hayabusa2 reached its target (162173) Ryugu in June 2018 and released the European (CNES-DLR) lander MASCOT in October 2018. MASCOT successfully landed on the surface, and the Hayabusa2 Optical Navigation Camera system has been able to image parts of the MASCOT trajectory.Aims. This work builds...

International audience

International audience