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#asteroid #madmen #massdriver
Published: 2016-10-09 22:57:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 144; Favourites: 1; Downloads: 0
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Description
Concept for a self-fueling autonomous asteroid diverter.A drill under the spacecraft brings in ballast, which is loaded into a metallic glass bucket to be launched by the onboard mass driver.
The bucket is extremely expensive, so halfway down the barrel the mass driver stops accelerating the bucket and instead decelerates to recover it, allowing the ballast to fly out the rest of the way on it's inertia.
The barrel of the mass driver is designed to telescope out on landing, throwing away the Propulsion stage in the process.(ie I forgot retrorockets)
Power is provided by a large RTG - the panels are heat radiators for that.
The feet of the landing gear are meant to be microsplines.(www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KUdyB… )
Inspired by MADMEN concept(io9.gizmodo.com/5861790/how-to… )