Hitchhiking
the cargo rocks…
Story: Instead of carrying so much fuel, let’s just use the asteroids to travel around the universe. We know the repetitive routes of many large asteroids traveling on known courses, and we know their composition. I say we send intelligence gathering apparatus from the Mir space station into space to land on these asteroids to be carried on their respective routes, all the while not using any fuel. The apparatus could carry a small, rechargeable engine with enough fuel to ‘hitchhike’ a ride from one asteroid to another if changes in direction warrant it. If needed, the original ‘Landers’ could dot space and their routes with communication satellites launched/dropped from their respective landing sites on the asteroids to transfer messages ‘leap-frog’ style from one to another to speed the return of information to earth; a kind of relay system. These satellite ‘nets’ could also serve as a warning net in space detecting moving objects headed in our direction. At the least, any ‘unknown’ vehicles causing electrical interference between satellites could be readily monitored. Space travelers/crews could use the surface of the asteroids as traveling base camps. Supplies could be shipped to them from other asteroids we have put provisions on and which are traveling to the general vicinity of a particular moving station. We could time lengthy space flights to coincide with asteroid trajectories. As an example: Lets say asteroid “A” travels within 500,000 miles of Mars on its known trajectory and will be passing Mars in the year 2020. That same asteroid also travels within 750,000 miles of earth or Mir. Instead of equipping a space ship with all the bulky, necessary equipment and apparatus needed to accomplish what ever the mission to Mars may be, we would ship the equipment to Mir, and using a shuttle, transfer the equipment to the asteroid intermittently. We would complete our transfer of materials to the asteroid to coincide with the Mars mission. The much lighter Mars craft (or a Mars craft capable of carrying much more fuel because of the ‘saved’ weight and room) would then be launched to rendezvous with the asteroid as it approached Mars on it known trajectory carrying our supplies. The asteroid could actually carry the landing craft, another shuttle, fuel, etc. We could actually land on the asteroid early to allow our scientists time to ‘plan’ their entry into Mars atmosphere on a more controlled mission. We could ‘seed’ Mars from out in space and visually see the immediate results. Using a small/compact shuttle already on the asteroid, multiple trips could be accomplished down to the surface using the fuel storage and living quarters already loaded on the asteroids surface. Not knowing how much time it would take for the asteroid to pass Mars, many trips could be taken to the surface for tests with a ‘safe haven’ out in space. The other advantage is the astronauts and scientists can ride the asteroid back to a reasonable distance from Mir and if need be, Mir could be maneuvered closer to the asteroids trajectory. Even if the experiments needed more time, we could return over and over without using fuel and time we don’t have. Even if the astronauts and scientists decided not to go down to the surface, all of them, or a few could ride the asteroid back towards its earth trajectory and the Mir; the asteroid having a fuel station, supplies, living quarters, and a small shuttle, could then be re-supplied for the next rendezvous in a few years. This would save us enormous problems trying to construct a massive craft large enough to carry everything at once. Lets try to calculate going to an asteroid instead of going the distance to the planet. Let the asteroids do our traveling for us, until we have enough data to justify a manned trip. Let them collect the data. With a little planning, we could have supplies, and equipment located strategically throughout space. All we would have to do is time our arrival to that of our cargo rock. Just a thought. RJ