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Researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) presented a mission plan today at the European Planetary Science Congress that would allow scientists to observe hundreds of asteroids over the course of just a few years. Their plan is to send 50 nanoprobes -- small space instruments -- into the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter to take images and chemical measurements of around 300 large asteroids. "Asteroids are very diverse and, to date, we've only seen a small number at close range. To understand them better, we need to study a large number in situ. The only way to do this affordably is by using small spacecraft," FMI's Pekka Janhunen told Popular Mechanics.
The five kilogram probes would be affixed with a tiny telescope and a spectrometer that would analyze chemical samples from the asteroids. The nanoprobes would be propelled through space with electric solar wind sails, or E-sails. The E-sail would be composed of the main spacecraft, a smaller remote unit and a 20-kilometer-long tether that connects the two. That tether would be kept at a positive charge so that when positive ions emitted by the sun and traveling through space come in contact with it, they'll repel each other, giving the probe a nice boost.
[...] You can read the conference paper here.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/19/scientists-explore-asteroids-fleet-nanoprobes/
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday September 20 2017, @07:01PM (9 children)
That's a neat idea. Ultimately we want one probe or flyby per every asteroid over a certain size. There are apparently up to 1.9 million asteroids [nasa.gov] in the asteroid belt with an average diameter of 1 km or greater. So that's how many small spacecraft we should be building.
5kg might be too massive. For a second generation effort, Breakthrough Starshot [wikipedia.org] could be reeled in to test the technologies needed for an Alpha/Proxima Centauri flyby. Those craft will also use sails although they will be propelled by lasers instead of solar wind. The StarChips are intended to have a "gram-scale" mass of perhaps 1-5 grams. There is a lot of testing to do between 1 and 5,000 grams. They could aim heavier 100 gram StarChips at the asteroid belt using less powerful lasers.
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday September 20 2017, @07:57PM (2 children)
All that in a 5Kg probe. And a sail, and telescope and spectrometer too.
Why does every part of this sound like a pipe dream? No matter how many imaginary parts you add, nothing real materializes.
And all from Finland no less.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 20 2017, @09:29PM
Riiiight... because, apart for Linux and Nokia phones, what have the Finnish people have done for us?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday September 21 2017, @11:48AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 20 2017, @09:24PM (2 children)
From the Breakthrough Starshot page:
No word about the density of the lasers in the array.
Assume though 1 laser per 10sqm. The total power of the array will be 106kW=1GW.
Now, really? Where do you plan to host that array? Under the turbulent atmosphere of the Earth? I doubt it.
In LEO? On the Moon? Have a 1GW laser cannon so close to Earth? Riiiight, I can see how "But it's for scientific purposes" argument is gonna play out.
Besides good luck construction/sending 100k spaceships of around a tonne each (this is how a 10kW laser look like [pressebox.com] - add to this a power source able to generate enough energy to compensate for subunit quantum efficiency of the laser).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday September 20 2017, @09:44PM (1 child)
The asteroid belt is about 1-2 AU away. Proxima Centauri is about 268,332 AU away. They can use smaller lasers for the test. In fact, they can fire the lasers at the StarChips at a lower wattage for a longer period of time since the StarChips would not be accelerating to 15-20% of light speed in order to get to the asteroid belt.
As for the actual goal of reaching Alpha/Proxima Centauri, they estimate that they could send the first craft around 2036. You know what they say about technologies that are 20 years away...
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(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 20 2017, @09:56PM
Yeah, I went on a tangent, commenting in the context of Breakthrough Starshot. Sorry about that.
For inside-the-Solar-system navigation, I believe a solar sail is just enough - the Sun's pumping enough flux around (at 1AU, the solar constant is just above 1kW/sqm in space. At 4AU, it will be just 60-something W, but the Sun's gravity will be equally lower).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 20 2017, @09:50PM (1 child)
Mmmm... when Verizon** will provide coverage in the asteroid belt, perhaps we can launch some mobile phone size satellites.
My point? Sending them may be easy, communicating back to Earth the acquired data may not be so with the limited power available in sub-kilogram satellites - e.g. the Cassini mission needed radio-telescopes in multiple location [nrao.edu] around the Earth and them radio-telescopes seem to be on short supply for millions of satellites in the same time
----
** replace with your choice of poor customer service network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday September 20 2017, @10:33PM
Seems like a good opportunity to set up the Interplanetary Internet and Phone services. Communication relay satellites in various orbits around the Sun, planets, Ceres, etc. Couldn't be any more of a waste of money than those billions spent on making America the world's broadband leader [huffingtonpost.com].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Thursday September 21 2017, @12:54AM