# # Program information file # PROGRAM_ID 2021B051 PROGRAM_TITLE Contextualizing Mission Targets: Searching for carbonates on dark, carbonaceous asteroids PROGRAM_INV1 Hannah Kaplan PROGRAM_INV2 Margaret McAdam PROGRAM_INV3 Andrew Rivkin PROGRAM_INV4 Cristina Thomas PROGRAM_INV5 PROGRAM_SCICAT solar system PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG We propose a study of five dark, primitive Main Belt asteroids to search for spectral evidence of carbonate minerals indicative of aqueous alteration. This work is motivated by the recent spectral detection of carbonates on OSIRIS-REx mission target [101955] Bennu [Kaplan et al., 2020, Science 370]. On Bennu, the presence of carbonates, along with a check-shaped 3 um feature, suggests extensive aqueous alteration occurred on the parent body asteroid [Hamilton et al., 2019, Nat. Astron. 3, 332]. We propose to observe other B- and C-type asteroids that may be either dynamically linked or spectrally similar to Bennu, with the ultimate goal of connecting Bennu to other asteroids from the same parent body or with similar alteration histories. We will characterize 2 Pallas, 142 Polana, 145 Adeona, 410 Chloris, and 490 Veritas with the SpeX instrument in the LXD long mode [1.98 -- 5.3-um], searching for the characteristic hydration feature at ~2.85-3.1-um [e.g., Takir and Emery, 2013, Icarus 219, 641] as well as carbonate features centered at ~3.4 and 3.98 um. Bennu has been shown to have carbonate features with absorption depths of ~2% and 5% [at 3.4 and 3.98 um] globally, and the observations we propose here will have sufficient signal-to-noise and resolution to detect similar features on the target asteroids. These observations will help connect science from the OSIRIS-REx mission and returned sample to the larger population dark, primitive asteroids, specifically by determining if there are other asteroids with similar aqueous alteration histories or that share a parent body with Bennu. PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END