Connecting rocks in space...

Here down on Earth buildings often are built by connecting parts given by nature - two sides of a canyon for example sometimes are used as walls of the building. If a building is built at the side of a hill the hill is used as part of at least one wall of the building.

And so on.

What about doing this in space too? It's known that in the asteroid belt objects often close to each other and in the Kuiper belt there are objects orbiting each other.

What about linking such objects to each other by cables if they are small enough? The cables could be made of the famous nanocarbontubes which will be available in a future where man has reached the objects. Along the cables more stuff could be installed then and this way two objects could be made one object then.

A space station could be formed this way.

What about it?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

You mean like connecting two or more asteroids, or better yet make a ring of asteroids, build pressurized tubes around the connectors, and spin it for gravity? You could use some low thrust system like solar sails or ion engines to spin it i guess.

You are very close to it. I have in mind small asteroids - less than 10 meters diameter. For the first time linking them by nanocarbontube-cables would be sufficient. Along these cables equipment could be installed - inflatables from Bigelow Aerospace, launch equipments, antennas, scinetific instruments, radar etc.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

How well does radar work in space?

How do you think Cassini is doing the remote imaging of Titan's surface.

DKH

The question for the radar and the answer is stimulating a concrete idea.

Scientists are thinking on system scale radio telscopes for better and more detailed investigation od distant galaxies as well as distant stars and planets. For SETI this would be a largely improved instrument to search for alien civilisations using communication by radio.

If small asteroid would be connected and linked by cables they could be used to install radio telescopes their. only the antennas of these telescopes nedd to be carried their - the communication to Earth already will be provided by the robots or astronauts that have done the work to connect the asteroids.

Just a possible concrete purpose.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

DKH -
Shoot. I didn't think enough about that. I was thinking about ultrasonic waves, not electromagnetic...........
-Ben


Ekkehard -
Sounds like a concrete enough purpose - although I won't be holding my breath too long for anything to be found soon. Such a base could also be an aid for communication on much more distant missions, though, and could help remove problems of blackout periods.
-Ben
PS, Okay, I'm going to bed again

It could be a long-term project perhaps that could be driven by private organizations like AMSAT (private Mars mission 2009), Planetary Society (Solar Sail "Cosmos") or the Mars Society (Mars-Balloon ARCHIMEDES which is to be launched together with AMSAT's Mars probe).

If AMSAT and the Mars Society succeed in sending their private probes to Mars they could use their technical and technological abilities to send thing to the asteroid belt too I suppose.

Another question - would it be possible to base my idea on the material of Saturn's, Jupiter's or Uranus's rings too? I am very skeptical and prefer the asteroids but what about it?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

i'd agree with you- asteroids no ring debris. i doubt there's much in there that masses enough to be a good anchor, as opposed to a good asteroid which of course does, and could be mined while you're at it for stuff to use at the spot. heh, screw mere 10 meter asteroids, they'd be good for a "small" station, but get a few 100m diameter ones and you have good starting points/anchors for a station that's multiple kilometers long/wide....

I would prefer asteroids not larger than 10 meters in diamater because I don't want to mine them but to use them as they are.

The asteroids will have to be that small because to connect two of them the rotation of one of them at least has to be changed, modified or stopped I suppose. This would be easier if they are small.

The station, the radio telescopes, launche equipments will be installed along the coonecting nancarbontube cable betwwen them instaed of on their surfaces.

As far as I know Saturn's rings contain rocks several meters wide in diametr. But there are myriads of rocks and particles in the rings that may destroy the telscopes, station and launch equipments.

What ways to establish the connection once the required tools arrived at the asteroids to be connected?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

There is no sound in space, due to the distinct lack of an atmosphere. However, that selfsame lack of an atmosphere allows EM radiation (lasers, radar, x-rays, and so on) to travel absolutely unhindered. Thus, any sort of LIDAR, RADAR, XRDAR, and so on, would be even more useful in space than on Earth.




Yes.... This sounds like a very workable idea. Expensive in current terms, but phenomenally cheap as far as colonization goes.

There could be first tests and experiments for purposes of development now a very simple way - orbital debris. Objects not too small as well as not too large could be selected for a connection. This way tools to do connections within the asteroid belt could be tested.

To send a private vehicle to the belt will not be that difficult if the AMSAT-mission to Mars succeeds. AMSAT's vehicle is using an ion drive - a private vehicle to the belt could do that too. There's only the difference in distance.

Once the connection tools are developed and tested by use at orbital debris the establishment of such connections within the asteroid belt shouldn't be that financial problem as the private Mars missions of AMSAT and the Mars Society show.

The problem might be to carry radio telescopes there and to install them properly along the connection cables.

The private vehicles could stay within the belt and operate there.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

There are problems to be expected if the asteroid is not a solid rock but a loose conglomerate of smaller rocks and dust held together by microgravity.

What about baking it together by microwaves then like thought about to get rid of the lunar dust? The rsult would provide useful caves but the focus here is to connect to asteroids - would it be possible to also bake the connection between two asteroids from the dust? Of course this would require a skeleton made of another material (carbonnanotubes come to mind).

What about it?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)