MIT Professor Proposes Fleet of Pre-Positioned Satellites Ready To Orbit Interstellar Comets

A Slashdot reader quotes MIT News: To closely observe an interstellar object (ISO) hurtling through space, time is of the essence. Richard Linares, an assistant professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, developed a concept for a "dynamic orbital slingshot for rendezvous with interstellar objects." He outlined his idea in a research proposal that was recently selected as a Phase 1 study in the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program, which "funds innovative aerospace concepts that could enable and transform future missions...."

Linares envisions deploying a constellation of statites, or "static satellites" enabled by a solar sail constructed with just the right mass-to-area ratio to act as interstellar watchdogs along the edges of our solar system, lying in wait until roused by an ISO crossing our threshold. Once detected, the solar sail then enables the statite to switch gears quickly and spring into action. Since the statite has a velocity of zero, it is already in position for efficient trajectory. Once released, the stored energy in the solar sail would leverage the gravitational pull of the sun to slingshot the statite in a freefall trajectory towards the ISO, allowing it to catch up. If the timing is right, the statite could tag the ISO with a CubeSat armed with onboard sensors to orbit the ISO over an extended period of time, gathering important scientific data.

Dreamer

[AndyKron]

We're going to double our national debt this year and he's thinking space shots? Dreamer.

Re:

[Applehu Akbar]

We're going to double our national debt this year and he's thinking space shots? Dreamer.

Think about that: we could have at least spent that printed largesse putting people to work building durable infrastructure, rather than just dropping it from helicopters. As viewed by economists, Donald Trump is therefore much more of a socialist than Franklin Roosevelt was.

Re:

[kenai_alpenglow]

The "dropping from helicopters" is from the democrats. Check the details in the bill they just passed.

cool

[snowshovelboy]

I'm going to have to try this mission plan in KSP.

Re:

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

Be sure to let us know how a satellite "hovers in place" and "has a velocity of zero".

Re:

[KirbyCombat]

and 'sligshots' around the Sun, when it has no relative motion to the Sun.

Re:cool

[ToTheStars]

You won't be able to simulate that in stock KSP, since it's not a valid solution to the two-body orbit problem. However, the solar sail's "thrust" does not depend on fuel, so it can be treated as a very tiny rocket engine that's always on, which gives a satellite much more flexibility in how it orbits, including the ability to "hover" against gravity (if it has enough surface area per mass) in a non-Keplerian manner. If you want to try it in modded KSP, have a look at the Photon Sailor [curseforge.com] mod.

Re:

[quenda]

Be sure to let us know how a satellite "hovers in place" and "has a velocity of zero".

The "statite" has zero velocity relative to the sun, by using solar sails to balance the gravitational attraction. ( I read this in TFS.)
If the sail is detached it will "drop" toward the sun, or with a slight sideways push, into a very elongated orbit.

But the rest is very unclear. How can the sail "slingshot" the craft? How much delta V are they talking about?
The craft will only be able to do a short flyby, as Oumuamua had an interstellar speed of 26 km/s. No way can the craft manage that, but another arti

Nope.

[RightwingNutjob]

You'd need a whole hell of a lot of them to be able to get to arbitrary directions. And given that it's our ability to detect these things in the first place that's limited, you'd effectively need to spend billions of dollars to do this maybe once in a couple of years. Also, solar sails only really exist in the imagination. A long endurance solar sail has not been flown. Linares is a solid dude, but it's best not to repeat MIT press releases too uncritically.

Re:

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Solar electric propulsion would seem to be feasible for this purpose. A significantly advanced version of it of couse.

Re: Nope.

[RightwingNutjob]

Even so, these things have finite lifetimes and physics driven limitations. This is a mathematical exercise more than a practical mission concept.

Solar sails

[Livius]

the stored energy in the solar sail

Is this some new meaning of "solar sail" or is the author just bluffing? It makes as much sense as storing wind power in a canvas sail.

Re:

[White Yeti]

It's more like a big fan (i.e., Sun) blowing upward to support a small parachute (i.e., solar sail) in equilibrium. It's certainly a mathematical possibility. At the right moment, you cut the shrouds/suspension lines and the payload falls toward the fan/Sun. You have to give it some sideways kick to get onto an orbital trajectory [nasa.gov].

Unfortunately, the NIAC site [nasa.gov] says "NIAC program officials have temporarily removed study report documents" for all studies.

tuition refund

[Venik]

If MIT refunds tuition for online courses, as it should, it won't have money left for professors, let alone any comet-orbiting satellites

Our solar system is a sphere....

[Vandil X]

....So we'd need a lot of these units deployed everywhere, not just in a ring on the plane of the ecliptic.

And if we're going to do that, we may as well build the frame for a Dyson Sphere.

Comet Interceptor

[Cochonou]

See also the selected Comet Interceptor [www.cometi...ptor.space] mission, which has the potential to study an interstellar object - although a regular comet is more likely.

Paid for by...

[groobly]

Naturally, he intends to pay for this WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!