A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Space Science » Technology
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

In-flight comet mining for water and fuel



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old September 8th 04, 05:05 AM
Earl Colby Pottinger
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default In-flight comet mining for water and fuel

First Abdul Ahad you must face facts. If you come up with a bad idea, it
remains a bad idea no matter how many times you repeat it. There is nothing
wrong or shameful in changing your designs in the face of facts, other words
when life hands you lemons make lemonade.

(Abdul Ahad) :

Dear All,

I would like some advice and comments please on the feasibility to
mine comets in-flight on a hypothetical futuristic spaceflight mission
towards Alpha Centauri, I have outlined in this research article:-


http://uk.geocities.com/aa_spaceagen...ropulsion.html

Problem stop and go along a trip to any stars will really slow you down, it
is better to start with all the materials needed and just have one long
flight, the time savings are huge.

Specific questions I have a

Is it feasible to have a large scale robotic arm on the scale of some
2 or 3 kilometres in length that can stand the stress of gripping onto
comets whilst the ship is docking with them (gently) in-flight?


Few materials are stiff at that lenght, asking for an arm pushs material
science to the limits and beyond, what is wrong with a free flyer or a
tethered remote unit? You don't need an arm, you need a gripper - drop the
arm.

Based on the current material science advances, is this kind of
framework conceivably viable for tens of *thousands* of years on such
a long voyage well into the future? Will it be structurally robust
enough to withstand several docking maneouvres with comets?


No, because even at 1% of C a trip to Alpha Centauri is less than 500 years
away. No-one is going to build your thousands of years voyage design when
there are designs that will do the same trip in just centuries. Light sails,
Orion Pulse, Nuclear fragment all will do the job a lot faster.

Since the main asteroid ship is rotating, if the comets are of say
just a quarter or so the size/mass of the actual starship (the
asteroid), when gripping comets in-flight, will the spin rate of the
ship slow down too dramatically, when such a comet is gripped by the
robotic arm?


Do the math, not only will you slow down the rotation a lot, the stress
involved are a danger to both the arm and the main ship. Why be so much
greedy in the size of comets? Small is better, none is best.

What is the best method of *steering* the starship (without affecting
its spin) so as to "pitch" it from side to side or to turn it around?
My own view would be to apply 'pulse' thrust at favourable points
during the rotation. Is it feasible to do this?


Yes it is possible, a better design is one that needs no steering because the
course is set at the start, and only at the end of voyage do you need to move
around.

Really appreciate any thoughts on these.
Many thanks.
Abdul Ahad

MODERATOR: Please can you consider this one in a serious light. I am
getting heavy criticism on this aspect of my research article. Please
be *kind* and let my post through... (I promise I wont pester this
group again!). Cheers. Abdul.


Real research looks for the answer, it does not predefine it before you even
start.

Earl Colby Pottinger


--
I make public email sent to me! Hydrogen Peroxide Rockets, OpenBeos,
SerialTransfer 3.0, RAMDISK, BoatBuilding, DIY TabletPC. What happened to
the time? http://webhome.idirect.com/~earlcp
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
In-flight comet mining for water and fuel Abdul Ahad Technology 2 September 13th 04 07:15 AM
NASA updates Space Shuttle Return to Flight plans Jacques van Oene Space Shuttle 0 February 20th 04 06:32 PM
Rosetta -- a new target to solve planetary mysteries (Forwarded) Andrew Yee Astronomy Misc 0 February 5th 04 04:40 PM
Leaving home to catch a comet (Forwarded) Andrew Yee Astronomy Misc 0 January 6th 04 11:09 PM
Rockets not carrying fuel. Robert Clark Technology 3 August 7th 03 01:22 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:03 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.