Talk about New Astronomy. In vol. 113 (Dec), we see some details on Aster, the first deep-space probe to come from INPE (the Brazilian space agency)!
de Carvalho Assis Goulant, G. Statella, T. Sfair, R. Definition of multispectral camera system parameters to model the asteroid 2001 SN 263 art. 102287 .2024.102287
The Aster mission will rendezvous with the triple asteroid system, 2001 SN263. Humanity has never visited a triple system, and even doubles (binary systems, one natural satellite) are exceptions. In this paper, the researchers put decimal places on what the camera should look like. Given the unusual gravity field of a triple system, the spacecraft must orbit at certain ranges, not others. But those distances result in unresolved targets (i. e., dots), or bodies out of frame. And no, the mission managers can’t arbitrarily build a better instrument- wider field of view, higher resolution (pixel scale), etc. This is a smallsat- a lightweight, tight-volume project, in keeping with NewSpace. The mission constraints force the managers and engineers to sharpen the pencils, defining better the mission requirements and what the instruments should and shouldn’t be like, to perform what they should do.
It was said that unfettered hands are a burden to creativity. INPE and the broader Brazilian effort are working under constraints of cost, mass, volume, schedule, etc. and this keeps them on the ball.