See also: Day 1
The 33rd meeting of the Small Bodies Assessment Group continues. This is a somewhat shorter SBAG meeting than usual. Given the upheaval of January/February, and the budget/regulatory risk, funding could not be confidently assigned for Early Career talks- travel funds were too up in the air. Similarly, Lightning talks did not happen this meeting. What did happen includes:
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/sbagjune2025/technical_program/?session_no=101
– Yuta Shimizu updated us on JAXA’s MMX mission (Mars Moons eXploration). Encounter planning is moving ahead; there will now be two Phobos landings, and two phases of Deimos flybys. MMX will study the smaller, outer satellite on both its entry and exit of the Martian system.
– Hoor AlMazmi gave a progress report on the MBR EMA project, the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid belt. CDR (Critical Design Review) was passed successfully. Ground telescopes continue to characterize the mission asteroids. One change to the mission is that heliospherics will be studied, with a new particles instrument. This will be the only instrument to operate during cruise.
– Michael Kueppers spoke on Comet Interceptor, since Geraint Jones has left the project. Vera Rubin is looking for comet targets, but nothing particular to report on the probe itself. The project is looking at alternate launch options, since the baseline flight (co-manifested with ARIEL) limits the maximum propellant load, and therefore delta-V capacity. Multiple authors have given comet stochastics, but of course the final target chosen could completely surprise us.
– Patrick Michel gave a Hera update. The Mars and Deimos flyby this Spring have already been in the press. Note that cross-calibration is possible, given the EMM (Emirates Mars Mission) observations of both bodies. Hera’s trajectory means Didymos observations can begin a month earlier, November 2026 instead of December 2026.
– Richard Moissl presented Phase A studies on the planned NEOMIR program. This space telescope will search for asteroids by viewing in the Sunward direction. Simulations indicate that NEOMIR would have been borderline for detecting the Chelyabinsk impactor ahead of time, but it would have detected 2024 YR4 and helped retire the impact risk.
– Dan Scheeres noted the Janus mission. Since being removed from the Psyche launch (when Psyche was delayed, altering the flight trajectory), the two Janus smallsats have been in storage. They are still available for a small-body mission, pending a launch manifest.
– Monica Lazzarin spoke on Ramses, in progress without official ESA approval. Science requirements flow down to individual instruments and observing plans; science goals look like they will be met. The launcher is still pending; JAXA has offered the H3, but Ariane 6 is an option.
– Dani DellaGiustina, similarly, presented OSIRIS-APEX plans. Of note: because of the tug of Earth’s gravity, regolith on Apophis should be lifted into a coma or tail. OSIRIS-APEX plans to fly through this lofted material.
– Amy Mainzer reported on NEO Surveyor status. Much hardware has been built and integrated; subsystems are now in test. No showstoppers to report so far.
– Hal Levison gave a talk on the Lucy mission, mostly its flyby of (52246) Donaldjohanson. Although Lucy is not directly named for budget cuts, indirect effects may cause the mission to skip some science investigations- a ‘descope’.
– Carol Polanskey, similarly, talked of Psyche. A propulsion issue has been traced to a fuel valve hanging up partway; its backup is allowing normal operations so far. In cruise, Psyche’s gamma instrument is catching gamma-ray bursts; similarly, the Psyche magnetometer is running.
– Kelsi Singer notes the extended mission of New Horizons. A New Horizons + 10 Years conference was held. Searches for additional Kuiper Belt targets are continuing. Even without a formal target, high-phase observations of distant points continues, as do dust impact rates. The limiting factor is the downlink time at this distance, to get all the data back to Earth.
Of course, recurring through all these discussions was the future, or lack thereof. Not only are plans for follow-on missions evaporating, but the lack of funds for under-construction and even launched, flying missions threatens to hollow out the entire space effort. The pool of space scientists and contractors is based on a pool of missions to fly; the sweeping cuts now being proposed would cause far-reaching, lasting damage to the nation’s standing and leadership.