Travel By Comet

I recently posted an ATSNN submission Here and it got me thinking...

If we are capable of landing on an comet then why couldnt we 'hitch a ride' on one?

If we could land a rover or something similar on an comet it could stay there using none of its own power for any amount of time, then when the comet was passing something of interest, the craft could launch from it and proceed using its own power.

This would preserve fuel and make it possible to travel anywhere we wanted...Provided the comet was traveling in the right direction...


Mic

Interesting idea actually.. never thought about that.

Larger asteroids even have an atmosphere, so that they could sustain an oxygen atmosphere if we were to plant plants on them.
But asteroids follow the same route through space, so it wouldnt be that smart actually.. Unless you can find one that rotates between Earth and Mars.

Alright... but to what end?

Comets are fickle things. It'd be hard to stay on and then take off. It'd be very hard to control it as well, and get the timing proper. And let's forget that if you're speeding around somewhere, it's best not to b eon something famous for parts of it breaking off and melting, especially something made of ice. Notice how we also live very close to the sun.

You'd have to pretty much match the comet's speed and trajectory to land on it I think, so by then you've already spent the fuel to take the path of the comet. In space, you don't have to expend any more fuel to keep traveling in the same direction at the same speed, so I see no benefit to doing this.

Originally posted by Thain Esh Kelch
Larger asteroids even have an atmosphere, so that they could sustain an oxygen atmosphere if we were to plant plants on them.

You base that on what? Sorry but that is not going to happen. They could have a atmosphere, but they will not able to hold one. They have incredibly weak gravity the gases would just float off into space. Look at Mars, it itself couldn't hold on to it's atmosphere (only much heavier Carbon Dioxide remained). It would have to be a planet-sized asteroid in order to sustain one. Growing plants on and asteroid would be pointless. It is far too cold in space, a thin atmosphere would provide little to prevent heat loss. Also they don't have a magnetic field so cosmic radiation would pose a big threat to life.

Comets on the other hand would be difficult. Unless and comet comes by that happens to be going your way, this is highly unlikely. Even then you need to get to it (could be millions of miles away), catch up with the thing and hitch on, a task that makes the idea a lot less appealing. Also comets pump out gases when they are heated by the sun. The surface can get violent. The idea of it doesnt seem logical and would have more drawbacks then rewards.

GoldEagle

[edit on 9/30/2005 by GoldEagle]

Mickey...Wonder what made you think of that?

Comets bad, asteroids good..(relatively speaking).
Comets are probably too fluffy, not much holding them together.. Then there is the problem with ionized gasses, and dust....
It'd probably be too hard to make a radio transmission when the thing is outgassing..They're just too active, at many points in their orbit.

Asteroids....better choice..
how would you pick one?
High denstiy, but not so high you can't excavate..
Water, either locked up in minerals, or in free form..For fuel and drinking..

I think radioactive deposits would be a plus...for energy production. if they could be refined in-situ..

Then there is the matter of rotation..on multiple axes. I guess you'd want one with minimal rotation. Rotation around one axis might be ok..

And, of course, you need to make sure it's going where you want to go! or at least close...nudge it as you go along...So size matters too...!

Originally posted by spacedoubt
Mickey...Wonder what made you think of that?

Yeah...sort of stole ur idea...hope u dont mind too much...


Mic

Not at all....
Glad you thought it was interesting..

Now, how do we "lasso" a big rock, and take a trip around the Solar
system?
Seems we wold be sheltered from nasty radiation if we built a habitat inside..What else do you think it would take, to turn this into a reality?

Originally posted by spacedoubt
Now, how do we "lasso" a big rock, and take a trip around the Solar
system?

Ive got some rope in the shed???

What else do you think it would take, to turn this into a reality?

A reliable spacecraft for a start!

I wasnt really thinking about a manned mission, more of landing a probe on one so it could fly out the solar system etc...
Its taken the voyager craft decades to leave our system and i was thinking that maybe a probe could get there faster by comet/asteroid!


Mic