Ian Woollard wrote: > If it was a nickel-iron, that could be mineable nickel-iron might be a > building > material.
Not to mention various other goodies on M-type asteroids. Like, oh, say, metric tons of platinum. > If it's a chondraceous then it could have volatiles at the center- > that's rocket > fuel right there, and there are few things more important than rocket > fuel in > space. <nods> If it's got the fuel, just reshape it a bit, light what's there, and move it into Earth orbit. > Also, 'just a rock' is one way to boost spacecraft/stations- you attach > a tether to > one end, lower the rock down, and then let it go. Rocks do make a good way to get rolling, don't they? (The pun jar will be at the next meeting, right? ^_^;) > Also rocks make great radiation shields. I presume everyone knows about the > flashes the astronauts can see with their eyes shut? A few meters of rock > would stop that, and increase the mass of the ISS (less frequent > reboosts). > Enough rock, and no more reboosts ever going to be needed for the life > of the station. But only if you can get the rocks into the same orbital position as the ISS. No reboosts because you've done all the reboosts in the initial boost. > Isn't use of 'rocks' like this why we are trying to go into space? > (Rhetorical question) One reason. Far from the only one, but certainly one. _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
