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In recent discussion of NASA's asteroid redirect experiment, a chain of thought led to inspiration for this topic.
One option for redirecting an asteroid away from a path that intersects Earth is a Gravity Tractor.
This option is most attractive if the asteroid to be deflected is a rubble pile.
However, until now, visions of Gravity Tractors have been on the light side, reflecting the difficulty of placing an intelligent device in the vicinity of an asteroid. The gravity tug of such a light weight tractor is almost unmeasurable compared to the asteroid.
However, as discussion proceeded, it became clear that mass of the tractor can be increased by moving material from the rubble pile to a collection bin attached to the tractor. As mass is moved, the mass of the tractor increases, and the mass of the asteroid decreases. At some point, the effectiveness of the tractor will be great enough so that a course change procedure can be implemented.
However, there is a business opportunity arising from the collection of material as described. The collected material could be offered on the spot market for purchase by a customer who can use the material for a project.
In an ideal scenario, the market value of the collected material would exceed the total cost of the mission.
Thus, a future in which the capitalist system is enlisted to protect the Earth from danger seems possible.
This topic is offered for NewMars members who have business acumen and who would like to work up detailed proposals for specific asteroids.
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This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members over time.
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A discussion of asteroid capture in a Moon topic might fit in this topic as well.
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This post is about 2024 YR4, which will pass by the Earth in 2028.
GW Johnson has shown what the pass in 2028 looks like.
This post is about the possibility of launching a large number of probes to "dock" with the asteroid, and begin a combination of research (to see what's there) and actual mining after the research has identified promising options. This means that a variety of possible mining methods need to be included in a convoy/flotilla of probes to "dock" with the asteroid.
A particularly interesting possibility arises from the work of kbd512 and GW Johnson, as they investigate an update of the 1950's concept of a solar powered space vessel. Many advances have occurred in the past 70 years, and kbd512 has identified a particularly interesting development in optics. Meanwhile, GW Johnson has created drawings and equations that may be useful for designing a space vessel using the new optical technology.
I am interested in a quite different application of the optical system that appears feasible thanks to kbd512's initiative. The solar power that can be used for propulsion can ** also ** be used to melt asteroid material.
I will attempt to distinguish here between "melting" and "smelting"
Asking Google:
The difference between melting and smelting
It’s easy to confuse the phrases melting and smelting, but these two processes, however, are not the same.During the melting process, the substance transitions from its solid to liquid state, whereas smelting is the process of extracting metal from ore by heating it over its melting point.
In the application I have in mind for 2024 YR4, the optical energy would "melt" the material found in the asteroid in small batches. Once melted to liquid, the batch would be allowed to cool, at which point it would be amenable to acceleration toward Earth (LEO) where it could be collected for future use.
Gases would be emitted during melting, and these could be collected if that is possible, or simply allowed to hang around the asteroid due to microgravity.
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