Asteroid To Orbit Moon?

Latest By
Category:

Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

Comments on Asteroid To Orbit Moon?
'[Asteroid] Eighty-eight received a series of gentle pats, always on the side headed along her course.' - Robert Heinlein, 1939 (Read the complete story)

"Should probably reference the AsterAnts proposal too. http://alglobus.net/NASAwork/papers/AsterAnts/paper.html"
(Ashley 1/8/2013 6:51:50 AM)

"Ashley, thanks - I'd never heard of that proposal. Here is the abstract from the paper you mentioned:

AsterAnts is a concept calling for a fleet of solar sail powered spacecraft to retrieve large numbers of small (1/2-1 meter diameter) Near Earth Objects (NEOs) for orbital processing. AsterAnts could use the International Space Station (ISS) for NEO processing, solar sail construction, and to test NEO capture hardware. Solar sails constructed on orbit are expected to have substantially better performance than their ground built counterparts [Wright 1992]. Furthermore, solar sails may be used to hold geosynchronous communication satellites out-of-plane [Forward 1981] increasing the total number of slots by at least a factor of three, potentially generating $2 billion worth of orbital real estate over North America alone. NEOs are believed to contain large quantities of water, carbon, other life-support materials and metals. Thus, with proper processing, NEO materials could in principle be used to resupply the ISS, produce rocket propellant, manufacture tools, and build additional ISS working space.
Unlike proposals requiring massive facilities, such as lunar bases, before returning any extraterrestrial materials, AsterAnts could conceivably begin operation with a single spacecraft whose payload is no larger than a typical inter-planetary mission. Furthermore, AsterAnts could be scaled up to deliver large amounts of material by building many copies of the same spacecraft, thereby achieving manufacturing economies of scale. Because AsterAnts would capture NEOs whole, NEO composition details, which are generally poorly characterized, are relatively unimportant and no complex extraction equipment is necessary. In combination with a materials processing facility at the ISS, AsterAnts might inaugurate an era of large-scale orbital construction using extraterrestrial materials.
( AsterAnts: A Concept for Large-Scale Meteoroid Return and Processing )

Also, I found a good set of slides by the same authors; see AsterAnts."
(Bill Christensen 1/8/2013 8:12:53 AM)

"Nice. I'd not seen the slides before, just the pdf of the proposal. And interesting details of one of the possible methods of making the solar sails in orbit. (Eric Drexler, of nanotech fame, invented a automated continuous thin-film vapor-deposition device, for use in space, which could easily do what was required for AsterAnts)"
(Ashley 1/10/2013 5:03:51 PM)

Get more information on Asteroid To Orbit Moon?

Leave a comment:

More Articles

MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'

TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.

'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'

Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'

CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'

Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'

Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.

The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'

Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'

Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'

Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!

Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'

Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'

Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.

Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'

Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'

Peel And Stick Thin Film Solar Cells
'It turns sunlight into electricity, just like any solar power converter, but you spray it on.'

A Big Collection Of Small Books
'Black, oblong, no larger than the end of Paul's thumb... It's a very old Orange Catholic Bible made for space travelers.'

Mu-Gripper Microsurgical 'Robots'
'It took about seven minutes ... for the cookie cutters to be randomly distributed throughout the victim's organs and limbs.'

Bartendro Robot Bartender
'He sipped the cognac that the robot bartender handed him...'

	Home \| Glossary \| Invention Timeline \| Category \| New \| Contact Us \| FAQ \| Advertise \| Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.