Comments on: Pictures of 2007 TU24

By: Barton Paul Levenson

Barton Paul Levenson — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:05:52 +0000

Are there enough images to calculate a light curve and determine TU24’s period of rotation?

By: Rocket

Rocket — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:44:54 +0000

Here is a series taken last night (when the weather finally cleared here) of TU24. This gif is comprised of 10 images taken by Dr. Mike Hicks and Mr. Jim Young at the Table Mountain Observatory (JPL) on 29 Jan 08. The camera is a 1K CCD mounted on a 24” telescope. These are two second exposures roughly 35 or so seconds apart and tracking on the object.

http://tmoa.jpl.nasa.gov/Gallery%20Images/gifs/TU24.gif

By: Lugosi

Lugosi — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:15:42 +0000

I imagine capturing an asteroid would also require a really big tranquilizer gun.

By: Barton Paul Levenson

Barton Paul Levenson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:10:43 +0000

Mars is closer to the asteroid belt, too, so the flux of small passing asteroids might be higher in its vicinity. Does anyone know the density/semimajor axis function for the asteroids?

By: Rosa W.

Rosa W. — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:07:11 +0000

“Gary Ansorgeon 30 Jan 2008 at 9:29 am

I wonder why we seem to have no captured asteroids in earth orbit???”

Well, d’you count the results of an asteroid smacking into proto-Earth? Our Moon may not be a captured asteroid per se, but an asteroid was involved… (Though judging from the size estimates of the impacting body, it may have qualified for planetary status.)

That aside, it’s not easy to catch an asteroid unless you have a really really big catcher’s mitt. That is, in the normal course of events, an asteroid passing near a planet will just pass on by, a la TU 24. Most of ‘em are traveling a lot faster than Earth’s paltry escape velocity at that distance.

As I understand it, what you really need is to slow the traveling asteroid down a bit, and the best way to do that is if it interacts with the outer atmosphere of your planet. For Jupiter and the other monster planets, with their whopping big atmospheres, this may be easier, which would explain why they have so much orbital clutter.

It’s harder to account for why midget Mars managed to pull off the trick twice. Even if you allow that in the past, when it was a warmer place, it might have had more atmosphere, it still leaves the question of how that wimp snared a pair of asteroids while buff Venus and Earth missed out. Luck of the draw, perhaps… Mars just had closer encounters?

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:47:31 +0000

Oh, Poo! So, I guess we’re stuck with Lunar resources for construction material? Well, it requires a more powerful mass driver to launch the material to L5 for conversion into power sats, etc. but WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY,,,

,,,now all we need is the will,,,

GAry 7
PS> How about moving a SMALL asteroid into earth orbit, say, about 50 meters in diameter,,,that shouldn’t be TOO big a risk for earther governments to get behind,,,

By: Barton Paul Levenson

Barton Paul Levenson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:03:33 +0000

Gary Ansorge writes:

[[I wonder why we seem to have no captured asteroids in earth orbit???
What a wonderful resource for space manufacturing THAT would be,,,]]

The same technology needed to divert an asteroid into Earth orbit (mass drivers on the surface?) could also be used to divert it directly into the path of Earth. Thus, I can’t see any Earth government allowing another to try such a thing.