Harvesting Asteroids

Capt'n Midnight · 07-06-2017 9:19pm

ScumLord wrote: »

Mars would make a good base to work from if we are serious about mining asteroids. We'd probably need to find an asteroid that stays relatively close to mars kind of following its orbit.

The bottom of a gravity well is not a good base for space exploration.

ScumLord · 08-06-2017 1:34pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

The bottom of a gravity well is not a good base for space exploration.

It depends, if the other base is further away at the bottom of a bigger gravity well, it might not be so bad.

I'm kind of assuming that we'll need to use gravity wells as jump off points. Being in orbit around mars means you can use mars to fling you towards something, is space travel even possible without a gravity well slingshot.

Capt'n Midnight · 08-06-2017 9:53pm

ScumLord wrote: »

, is space travel even possible without a gravity well slingshot.

A gravity well can be handy if you are using chemical rockets see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberth_effect
Aerobraking is also handy if you want to slow down.

But chemical rockets are very inefficient compared to Ion drive in the long run. Even to get from Low Earth Orbit to Geo synch where all the TV satellites you can double your payload by using ion drives.

The Japanese have used a solar sail to get to Venus.

Fathom · 09-06-2017 3:40pm

Asteroid mining. Only decade away? Claims Washington Post.

Black Swan · 21-08-2017 5:48pm

Start-up for-profit companies are being formed to someday mine asteroids like Deep Space Industries, which may or may not survive a competitive marketplace.

Fathom · 21-08-2017 7:36pm

Note several space mining companies. Practical today?

Rubecula · 30-08-2017 3:04pm

Fathom wrote: »

Remember Earth-skimming DA14 asteroid? L-type asteroid. 50 meters wide. Could proposed Fire Fly or equivalent spacecraft catch such asteroids? Drag them into Earth orbit. Harvest them using robotics. Estimated $195 billion of minerals. DA14 passed at distance of 17,200 miles in 2013.

Practical with today's technology? Your thoughts?

Good idea but why travel the distance to it, then drag it back to mine it, why not travel to it, mine it and ship the valuable stuff back? to me it would make more sense

Black Swan · 05-09-2017 5:16pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

But chemical rockets are very inefficient compared to Ion drive in the long run. Even to get from Low Earth Orbit to Geo synch where all the TV satellites you can double your payload by using ion drives.

3 NSTAR ion thrusters on the Dawn spacecraft launched 2007 allowed it to orbit the protoplanets Vesta and Ceres in asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Fathom · 06-09-2017 11:20pm

Black Swan wrote: »

3 NSTAR ion thrusters on the Dawn spacecraft launched 2007 allowed it to orbit the protoplanets Vesta and Ceres in asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Rubecula · 07-09-2017 4:25pm

Rubecula · 07-09-2017 4:29pm

Rubecula · 07-09-2017 4:34pm

Capt'n Midnight · 07-09-2017 10:38pm

Meanwhile the Russians have been using Hall Effect thrusters for yonks.

Not as efficient as the latest and greatest western prototypes, however they are cheap, simple and very reliable in orbit.

Fathom · 08-09-2017 12:31am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Meanwhile the Russians have been using Hall Effect thrusters for yonks. Not as efficient as the latest and greatest western prototypes, however they are cheap, simple and very reliable in orbit.

plasma-thrusters-pp-17-638.jpg?cb=1453209807

Harvesting Asteroids

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