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Effect of the finite size of an asteroid on its deflection using a tether–ballast system

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Abstract

Potentially hazardous near-Earth objects which can impose a significant threat on life on the planet have generated a lot of interest in the study of various asteroid deflection strategies. There are numerous asteroid deflection techniques suggested and discussed in the literature. This paper is focused on one of the non-destructive asteroid deflection strategies by attaching a long tether–ballast system to the asteroid. In the existing literature on this technique, very simplified models of the asteroid-tether–ballast system including a point mass model of the asteroid have been used. In this paper, the dynamical effect of using a finite size asteroid model on the asteroid deflection achieved is analyzed in detail. It has been shown that considering the finite size of the asteroid, instead of the point mass approximation, can have significant influence on the deflection predicted. Furthermore the effect of the tether-deployment stage, which is an essential part of any realistic asteroid deflection mission, on the predicted deflection is studied in this paper. Finally the effect of cutting the tether on the deflection achieved is analyzed and it has been shown that depending on the orbital properties of the asteroid as well as its size and rotational rate, cutting the tether at an appropriate time can increase the deflection achieved. Several numerical examples have been used in this paper to elaborate on the proposed technique and to quantitatively analyze the effect of different parameters on the asteroid deflection.

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Notes

  1. Available from: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html, Retrieved on 26th February 2014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 0C3, Canada

    Mohammad J. Mashayekhi & Arun K. Misra

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  1. Mohammad J. Mashayekhi
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  2. Arun K. Misra
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Correspondence to Mohammad J. Mashayekhi.

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Mashayekhi, M.J., Misra, A.K. Effect of the finite size of an asteroid on its deflection using a tether–ballast system. Celest Mech Dyn Astr 125, 363–380 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-016-9687-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-016-9687-y

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