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Spacecraft Conceptual Design for Returning Entire Near-Earth AsteroidsIn situ resource utilization (ISRU) in general, and asteroid mining in particular are ideas that have been around for a long time, and for good reason. It is clear that ultimately human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit will have to utilize the material resources available in space. Historically, the lack of sufficiently capable in-space transportation has been one of the key impediments to the harvesting of near-Earth asteroid resources. With the advent of high-power (or order 40 kW) solar electric propulsion systems, that impediment is being removed. High-power solar electric propulsion (SEP) would be enabling for the exploitation of asteroid resources. The design of a 40-kW end-of-life SEP system is presented that could rendezvous with, capture, and subsequently transport a 1,000-metric-ton near-Earth asteroid back to cislunar space. The conceptual spacecraft design was developed by the Collaborative Modeling for Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) team at the Glenn Research Center in collaboration with the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) team assembled to investigate the feasibility of an asteroid retrieval mission. Returning such an object to cislunar space would enable astronaut crews to inspect, sample, dissect, and ultimately determine how to extract the desired materials from the asteroid. This process could jump-start the entire ISRU industry.
Document ID
20130010676
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Brophy, John R.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Oleson, Steve
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 27, 2013
Publication Date
July 20, 2012
Subject Category
Space Sciences (General)
Meeting Information
Meeting: 48th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference
Location: Atlanta, GA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 29, 2012
End Date: August 1, 2012
Sponsors: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society for Electrical Engineers, American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
asteroid retrieval
solar electric propulsion

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