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Newly discovered Trojan asteroid shares Earth's orbit

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Ash Small

Sat Jul 30 2011, 06:36AM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

Patrick wrote ...

Your absolutely right, I was asuming it would be like an Iron-Nickel cosmic body, not a worthless planetary left-over like the moon.

It will quite likely depend on it's age. Apparently everything 'decays' to iron-nickel in the end. (heavier elements undergo fission, lighter elements undergo fusion)

Patrick

Sat Jul 30 2011, 07:04AM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

Ash Small wrote ...

Patrick wrote ...

Your absolutely right, I was asuming it would be like an Iron-Nickel cosmic body, not a worthless planetary left-over like the moon.

It will quite likely depend on it's age. Apparently everything 'decays' to iron-nickel in the end. (heavier elements undergo fission, lighter elements undergo fusion)

In very long multi-billion year cycles yes, but we humans have seen tell tail measurements which very likely indicate valuble metals in concentrations in the asteroids still useful and valuable, worth getting the closest ones over the next 50-100 years.

Jack A

Sat Jul 30 2011, 08:31AM

Registered Member #2975 Joined: Wed Jul 07 2010, 12:19AM
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and sits in a gravitational sweet spot just ahead of Earth

That'd be the fourth of fifth legrange point, wouldn't it?

If it was rich in a reasonably rare resource, then I guess it would be kinda worthwhile trying to bring it back to earth, but I'd be mining the moon's 4% titanium dioxide first.

Patrick

Sat Jul 30 2011, 01:29PM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

Jhackulon wrote ...

If it was rich in a reasonably rare resource, then I guess it would be kinda worthwhile trying to bring it back to earth, but I'd be mining the moon's 4% titanium dioxide first.

Why do you say this?

Ash Small

Sat Jul 30 2011, 01:47PM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

What would be the most efficient way to get there?

Blast out of the Earth's gravitational field, then just sit there until the asteroid comes round, then, once you've finished, wait for the Earth to come round again?

Or 'chase' after it?

Pinky's Brain

Sat Jul 30 2011, 02:30PM

Registered Member #2901 Joined: Thu Jun 03 2010, 01:25PM
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Posts: 837

Patrick wrote ...

Double bummer. Our national unemployment number is a scam anyway, 9.2% its more like 18% - 22%. Thats not a recession, but a depression. Not a "Great" depression (30% or greater) just a "normal" one.

Nothing has been normal since Nixon took the US off the gold standard ... with 30 years of growing trade imbalances across the world the whole idea of applying classical macro-economic theory to the current situation is ludicrous. We're so far off the map we don't even know how to get back (hell, I don't think we can unless we find an alternative to oil which can replace it in a decade or so).

Fraggle

Sat Jul 30 2011, 05:03PM

Registered Member #1526 Joined: Mon Jun 09 2008, 12:56AM
Location: UK
Posts: 216

It`s interesting to think about. As it`s in the same orbit as us, a constant braking force over time would bring it closer and eventually cause it to fall into a spiralling orbit around the earth wouldn`t it?
Plenty of energy required though to be sure and even more to prevent it hitting us.
I agree that it seems kind of pointless too.

Ash Small

Sat Jul 30 2011, 06:01PM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

Fraggle wrote ...

It`s interesting to think about. As it`s in the same orbit as us, a constant braking force over time would bring it closer and eventually cause it to fall into a spiralling orbit around the earth wouldn`t it?
Plenty of energy required though to be sure and even more to prevent it hitting us.
I agree that it seems kind of pointless too.

I think just slowing it down would cause it to 'spiral' into the sun. It would lose centripetal momentum. (There is no such word as 'centrifugal', as they used to tell us at school)

Fraggle

Sat Jul 30 2011, 07:13PM

Registered Member #1526 Joined: Mon Jun 09 2008, 12:56AM
Location: UK
Posts: 216

Of course, you`re right, so there would have to be a radial component to the braking force to maintain the orbital radius, then when it was near the earth we`d have to accelerate it back to orbital velocity. Then I think it would fall towards the earth rather than the sun.
In fact, I think I can handle the sums, I might have a bash for fun.

edit: Yes, and it`s that radial component which would have to be impossibly huge I think.

Patrick

Mon Aug 01 2011, 01:25AM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

What if in the processs of mining/refining, if the waste rock was throne off the main body, then the summation of force vectors could be used to "de-orbit" the body towards the sun right? So when were finished mining its no longer dangerous. Or would that take a lot of mass and energy making it impractical?

Keep in mind that this process would be continuous over 70 years, perhaps a century. By unmanned robotic systems (several machines from earth each decade), each new machine would be better than the previous one.

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