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NASA Plans To "Lasso" Asteroid and Turn It Into Space Station
SternisheFan writes "NASA scientists are planning to capture a 500 ton asteroid, relocate it and turn it into a space station for astronauts to refuel on their way to Mars. From the article: 'The 1.6bn-pound plan will be considered by the White House's Office of Science and technology in the coming weeks, as it prepares to set its space exploration agenda for the next decade, the Daily Mail reported. According to a report prepared by NASA and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists, an, 'asteroid capture capsule' would be attached to an old Atlas V rocket and directed towards the asteroid between the earth and the moon. Once close, the asteroid capsule would release a 50ft diameter bag that would wrap around the spinning rock using drawstrings. The craft would then turn on its thrusters, using an estimated 300kg of propellant, to stop the asteroid in its tracks and tow it into a gravitationally neutral spot. From here space explorers would have a stationary base from which to launch trips deeper into space. Though NASA declined to comment on the project, it is believed that technology would make it possible within 10-12 years. The technology would also open up the possibility of mining other asteroids for their metals and minerals. Some are full of iron which could be used in the making of new space stations, others are made up of water which could be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen to make fuel. It is hoped that the project will increase our understanding of asteroids, and even shed new light on the origin of life on Earth.'"
"... the Daily Mail reported." All i have to say
"a space station for astronauts to refuel on their way to Mars"
I hope they hire Andy Libby to do their calculations.
Anyway having a "gas station in space' is not that good unless you just have it in Earth orbit. Having one halfway to mars is not going to work because you would have to slow down to dock with it and waste delta V
The idea is to use energy when you are close to the sun, where photovoltaics are practical. The stored energy is then used when you are distant from the sun, where photovoltaics are not practical.
Look up Lagrange points for a "neutral spot".
Hand in your nerd card at the exit.
People keep touting the idea of mining metals from asteroids and using it to build spacecraft outside of the earth's gravity well, but do we actually know how to do that?
The mining side of things seems relatively straight-forward (not easy, but you wouldn't need anything radically new), but smelting and refining significant amounts of ore in low gravity could be rather difficult. As far as I understand, a traditional iron smelting plant uses gravity to help with the purification, allowing the slag to float to the surface, before tapping the good quality iron from the bottom of the blast furnace.
It seems like purifying and working ore in space would require entirely new ways of working with the raw materials. Perhaps using some kind of high temperature centrifuge to spin and separate the material.
I'm not saying it's not possible, but it doesn't seem quite as easy as some of the more excitable science-fictiony plans for space exploration treat it. Many of these plans feature major problems to solve that get glossed over as minor technicalities.
Paul Leader
and when they launch to another planet from the asteroid, it will be kicked out of its "neutral" orbit and enter a declining apogee which eventually causes it to crash into Earth.
boy, I hope that colonization thing works OK
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Here is the link to the pdf download at California Institute of Technology: http://www.caltech.edu/search/sites/asteroids%20nasa#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=asteroids%20nasa&gsc.page=1
And you know, NASA doesn't have anyone who understands basic thermodynamics or orbital mechanics. [rolls eyes]
Other posters have already pointed out the specific problems with what you wrote, but what bugs me more about this post, and the thousands more like it, on just about any story dealing with any scientific topic, is the inherent assumption that some random dude on /. has seen an obvious logical hole that the people whose job it is to study the subject every day for years have missed, usually based on said random /.er's half-remembered high school "science class" or undergrad Physics 101 class. Now, this is certainly possible--in all fields, amateurs sometimes see things that the professionals miss--but it's really not the way to bet.
Try thinking before you post. Just give it a shot sometime. You might be surprised by the results.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
That's what I got too, but if that's the case it seems like a bad idea to me. The L1 (and L2) points are unstable, like trying to balance on the edge of a knife - the Moon and Earth are both "down", and you've got a 50/50 chance that when it destabilizes it'll be on a collision course with Earth. Now I suppose you could put it in one of those complicated 3D orbits around the L1 point like they do with the solar observer at the Earth-Sun L1, but that still requires constant minor momentum adjustments which could add up fast for a 50 ton mass. Especially with the sun's gravity constantly upsetting the pseudo-equilibrium.
I would think the Earth-Moon L3 or L4 "points" would be far more attractive since they are gravitationally stable so you don't have to be constantly fine-tuning your momentum. Granted though, they are at a considerably higher specific orbital energy than the L1 point, high enough even that it's easier to escape the Earth's pull entirely than to match speed with them. And perhaps NASA is looking ahead and thinking having a space station at the L1 point would be an asset towards eventually building a lunar space elevator, which would be an enormous asset towards colonizing/mining/etc the moon and quite feasible with current materials, unlike an Earth elevator. There might also be some strategic thinking involved - the L1 point is uniquely valuable, and whatever nation controls it will be well positioned for many future endeavors.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.