A photo from open sources
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Offers Interesting way to land spaceships on asteroids and other small the celestial bodies of our solar system. Americans new project gave the name “Hitchhiker”, which is translated into Russian as Hitchhiker. NASA engineers figured that comets and asteroids You can land using a huge space harpoon.
As a material for the cable, scientists suggest using carbon nanotubes, and the harpoon made of artificial diamond. Experts are sure that a reusable cable will save astronauts from extra fuel costs when landing on a comet and starting from them. When the spaceship will be approaching the target, it will shoot at an asteroid and catch on its surface. Then the cable will be reeled up, so the ship will be in heaven the body.
According to the Americans, one harpoon can be used five to ten times during one mission – after that, the cable thanks heavy loads and high temperatures will not be enough durable. The cable length, according to preliminary estimates, should make up from a hundred to a thousand kilometers. Experts note that according to to astronomical standards this is quite a bit. Maybe, carbon nanotube rope length will even more.
However, far from the fact that the American government space exploration generally undertakes to implement a similar project in a life. NASA Announces New Foundation Annually asteroids, however the Americans have not yet created a single real technology in this area. For this reason, their colleagues from other countries have long been looking at such statements openly skepticism.
Including Russian space engineers who put I’m facing much more real tasks and, most importantly, successfully fulfill them, showing the world not ideas, but results. Maybe, it is the Russians who will be the first to start mining with asteroids, and with such technologies, which are still difficult even imagine.
NASA
