MIT develops asteroid mission tether

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have developed a tether system that might one day allow astronauts to work on the surface of small asteroids without floating into space.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers said knowing how to tether an asteroid might also be invaluable if an asteroid needs to be moved from a potential collision course with Earth.

"This is an innovative approach to a task nobody has spent much time thinking about," said former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, an MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics who sponsored the research. "Clever ideas will be necessary to allow people to do useful work near objects on which you cannot 'land,' but only 'dock'."

MIT researchers Ian Garrick-Bethell and Christopher Carr envision deploying their system with an astronaut or a remote-controlled rocket that unwinds a spool of lightweight rope while flying around an asteroid. When the tether reaches its starting point, a loop is formed and tightened. Astronauts could then be held to the asteroid using one or more ropes, permitting them to work on the surface.

The research is to be reported in the journal Acta Astronautica.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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