Saturday, March 23, 2013

Find a good Earth Trojan and Build an Observatory on it!


An Earth Trojan is an asteroid or minor planet with an orbit very like that of the earth. Most of us heard of one only two years ago. Visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_trojan_asteroid as well as the Wikipedia page on 2010TK7, which is a pretty big baby, about 15 million tons in weight, and about 200 M in “diameter”. Refer: http://smallbodies.ru/en/asteroids/info/general/2010_TK7/

For more information, visit the blog post:

Unfortunately, it does not look as if TK7 will become a popular tourist destination, scientific tourism or otherwise! Its orbit is inclined to the earth’s orbital plane by about 21 degrees. As a result, a manned return trip would require a whole lot of energy. What we really need is a “good” Trojan more or less in our own orbital plane. Manned return trips to such a body would be a lot easier. 

Why do we need a body like that? Because linking observational instruments on such a body with those on the earth and on the moon would create a very powerful radio-telescope! In turn, that could lead to some great discoveries! Perhaps, finding  life elsewhere in the universe. It would be a lot easier to create a more habitable international space station on a big scale on a Trojan. There would be plenty of building material! In comparison to a spaceship, a 200 Meter Trojan would provide excellent shielding against radiation and celestial debris flying around. Spacewalks for maintenance and observation would be a lot easier, though one would need protection against flying off into empty space! Your weight would merely be a few grams. 

Wouldn't you love a weight loss like that!

Srinivasan Ramani