Can the TERP RAPTOR Replace NASA’s Apophis Explorer?

Can the TERP RAPTOR Replace NASA’s Apophis Explorer?

SALT LAKE CITY—NASA’s budget cuts may force the space agency to miss the chance to study the asteroid Apophis when it makes a close fly-by of Earth—but academia isn’t giving up on the opportunity. A team from the University of Maryland is designing the Terrapin Engineered Rideshare Probe for Rapid-response Asteroid Apophis, Profiling, Tracking, Observing, and Reconnaissance mission—better known as TERP RAPTOR, a nod to the university’s terrapin …