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Building an “Escape Portal” with Tethers Fixed in Asteroids

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Abstract

The main idea of this paper is to propose the construction of an “Escape Portal” to send a spacecraft to the exterior planets, or even to make it escape from the Solar System, using a Tethered Sling Shot Maneuver (TSSM) with an asteroid. The construction of this portal allows an unlimited number of maneuvers with the same tether, which is very interesting when considering a possible use for small satellites. This structure would be formed by a tether that remains fixed in an asteroid. At the other end of the tether, a large net is fixed, such that the only action required from the spacecraft to make the TSSM is to hit the net. The net can have a mechanism to open a passage to release the spacecraft when the desired rotation is obtained. This technique would avoid some of the problems that appear when assuming that the spacecraft needs to carry a tether on board that would be released to hit the asteroid just before the maneuver.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks the grants # 473387/2012-3, 473164/2013-2, 406841/2016-0 and 301338/2016-7 from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq); and grants # 2016/24561-0, 2011/13101-4 and 2016/14665-2 from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INPE, Av dos Astronautas 1758, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, 12227-010, Brazil

    Antonio F. B. A. Prado

  2. Unesp, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Guaratinguetá, SP, 12516-410, Brazil

    Vivian Martins Gomes & Thierry Gregory Gil Chanut

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  1. Antonio F. B. A. Prado
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  2. Vivian Martins Gomes
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  3. Thierry Gregory Gil Chanut
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Correspondence to Antonio F. B. A. Prado.

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Prado, A.F.B.A., Gomes, V.M. & Chanut, T.G.G. Building an “Escape Portal” with Tethers Fixed in Asteroids. J of Astronaut Sci 65, 355–375 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-017-0120-x

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