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Posted by baalke on September 25, 2007, 7:58 pm
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MIT tether could aid asteroid missions
For Immediate Release
TUESDAY, SEP. 25, 2007
Contact:
Elizabeth A. Thomson, MIT News Office
1-617-258-5402
thomson@mit.edu
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Using a tether system devised by MIT researchers,
astronauts could one day stroll across the surface of small
asteroids,
collecting samples and otherwise exploring these rocks in space
without floating away.
The ability to visit asteroids could also be invaluable for testing
equipment for a mission to Mars by humans. Further, knowing how to
tether an asteroid could be helpful if one needs to be towed away
from a potential collision course with Earth, says Christopher Carr,
a postdoctoral associate in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric
and Planetary Sciences.
Carr and Ian Garrick-Bethell, a graduate student in the department,
describe their system in an upcoming issue of the journal Acta
Astronautica.
Walking on an asteroid is much more difficult than walking on a
planet
because asteroids have so little gravity. An astronaut who tried to
step
onto one would likely fly off or hover above the surface.
Now Carr and Garrick-Bethell say that tying a lightweight rope
completely
around an asteroid could solve that problem. Once the rope was in
place,
astronauts could attach themselves to it and maneuver or possibly
even
walk along the surface.
That would allow an in-depth exploration of the composition and
history of
asteroids, which could shed light on some of the big questions about
our
solar system, such as how the planets formed, said Carr.
"This is an innovative approach to a task nobody has spent much time
thinking about," said former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, an MIT
professor
of aeronautics and astronautics who sponsored the paper. "NASA has
taken a
brief look at a human visit to a Near Earth Object, and it may be
something
we can do long before going to Mars. Clever ideas will be necessary
to allow people to do useful work near objects on which you cannot
'land,'
but only 'dock.'"
An asteroid's gravity varies depending on its density and size, which
can
range from a speck of dust to hundreds of kilometers. On an asteroid
that
has a diameter larger than eight kilometers, an astronaut who jumps
will
probably come back to the surface, Carr said. But if the asteroid is
smaller
than that, the astronaut may float away.
Even if an asteroid has enough gravity to keep an astronaut on the
surface,
it would be difficult to move around or collect samples. "You couldn't
touch
anything without sending yourself on a new trajectory or spinning
yourself
around," said Garrick-Bethell, who is the first author of the Acta
Astronautica paper.
Some people have suggested that astronauts could bolt themselves
directly to
the asteroid, but the granular material covering the asteroids could
prevent
this.
"It would be like trying to bolt yourself to a pile of gravel or
sand,"
Garrick-Bethell said.
The MIT researchers envision deploying their system with an astronaut
or a
remote-controlled rocket that unwinds a spool of rope while flying
around
the asteroid. When the craft reaches the starting point, a loop is
formed
and tightened. Astronauts could then be held to the asteroid using one
or
more ropes, permitting them to work on the surface.
One unknown is whether the rope would cut into the granular surface of
an
asteroid, hindering the system's effectiveness. But even if the rope
does
not allow astronauts to walk on the surface, it could at least give
them
something to hold onto as they pull themselves along the asteroid
without
floating away, said Carr.
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