The cable catapult - Putting it there and keeping it thereThe cable catapult is the previously proposed method of using long space tethers for high speed interplanetary transport. A long conductive multistrand cable would be connected to a power supply and pointed in the desired direction. A linear motor would pull itself along the powered cable strands and launch a payload capsule toward a distant planet, where it would be caught and decelerated by another cable catapult positioned there. In this paper it is shown how cable catapults can be used to transport themselves to a distant planet and keep themselves in position near the planet despite the tendency of the payload capsule momentum transfer to push them apart.
Document ID
19920066102
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Forward, Robert L. (Forward Unlimited Malibu, CA, United States)
Conley, Buford R. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Stanek, Clay (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Ramsey, William (B.R. Conley Engineering Services Boston, MA, United States)