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Title revised 2025/04/05 (th)
Asteroid 2024 YR4 is expected to pass near Earth in 2032, which means there is plenty of time to mount a robotic expedition to visit the object, and to deploy a navigation beacon to insure it is easier to track.
Clearly there are potential opportunities for collection of mining data, and perhaps for scientific data as well.
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This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members over time.
In the context of a Petition, this index might contain the User Names of NewMars members who have "signed" the Petition.
Post #3: tahanson43206
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tahanson43206 "signs" the Petition to Visit 2024 YR4 in 2032.
This is an opportunity to collect data for a variety of purposes, and to deliver a navigation beacon so the object can be tracked more easily.
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Here is an update about 2024 YR4...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-webb-ca … 14764.html
The size of the object is better known thanks to additional observations in infrared.
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Yuri Pilipishin posted an idea for a solar sail that I think lends itself nicely to the proposal to harvest 2024 YR4
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=11066
What I am seeing in Yuri's proposal is the opportunity to place harvested mass at the tips of the sail. the sail can then take it's time returning the payloads to LEO where they can be removed and processed further.
This idea would mesh with the potential of the Optical Plane Solar Propelled space craft, because that system can melt clumps of material harvested from an asteroid to make solid pieces that can be added to the solar sails Yuri has shown us.
If the solar sails are carried to the asteroid in a barge load they can be fitted with their payloads before they are set in motion to return to Earth.
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We have many topics that contain the word Asteroid... This one seems as good a fit as any of them, for this reply from a member of a web site where Astronomical calculations are available to the public. I had inquired about animation showing how an asteroid approaching a planet might behave. At the time I did not realize how weak gravity is on a short time scale. On long time scales gravity rules the Universe, but on short time scales such as an asteroid passing a planet, not so much.
phethelp
Jun 23, 2025, 4:47PM (2 days ago)
to meHi Thomas,
I got in touch with our My Solar System developer, and here is his response:
Unfortunately, asteroid capture situations require some sort of deceleration in the system, such as atmospheric breaking or another moon's tug. Otherwise, due to conservation of energy, anything that flies into the system will also fly out. Maybe there is a way if the asteroid flies into a Planet-Moon system (such as Earth, or Jupiter), but not any that I'm aware of.
As for Mars, which seems to be your interest, we have no way of simulating a Phobos or Deimos capture with our sim. Which raises the question on how they were captured in the first place, if Mars has such a thin atmosphere, and that's still an open research issue.
[header]
If it helps, I made a Double-Moon PhET Studio preset, which I don't know if the public can use yet:
[/header]https://phet.colorado.edu/presets/7myb-xwkk/
Or adding a 4th body in Planet-Moon with these presets:
Hope this helps and happy to discuss further, it's a pretty interesting inquiry!!
All the best,
Oliver
From: tahanson43206 <newmarsmember@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 7:51AM
To: phethelp <phethelp@colorado.edu>
Subject: 20250612 Asteroid path simulation[External email - use caution]
tahanson43206
8:40AM (1 minute ago)
to Tom, phethelpFor Oliver!
First, thank you for taking the time to prepare the helpful reply to my inquiry. It fits well with the guidance I have received from others. The fundamental clarification (for me) was how weak gravity is over short time scales. Gravity is the ultimate ruler over vast time scales, but not as much of an influence as I had imagined, when time scales are short.I am planning to post your reply, and I hope a few members are inspired to visit your site!
The web site itself is phet@colorado.edu
I'll post separately about the site. >> See Education topic of Calliban
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