A great graduate student analytical problem, but please don't try it on the home planet.
On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 1:52 PM, Rau, Greg <[email protected]> wrote: > ** Sorry if already discussed. - Greg > GEOENGINEERING: Scientists suggest deploying asteroid dust to cool the > planet > > Published: **Tuesday, October 2, 2012** > **** > > A group of Scottish scientists suggests that dust from an asteroid, > suspended in space, could block incoming sunlight and help to cool the > Earth. > > Russell Bewick of the University of Strathclyde in Scotland said, "We can > buy time to find a lasting solution to combat Earth's climate change. The > dust cloud is not a permanent cure, but it could offset the effects of > climate change for a given time to allow slow-acting measures like carbon > capture to take effect." > > Bewick proposes to suspend a large asteroid within the Lagrange point L1, > where the gravitational pull of the Earth and the sun cancel each other > out. A device consisting of electromagnets, called a "mass driver," would > hurl dust away from the asteroid's surface. The device would work to propel > the asteroid into the L1 point as well as generate the dust. > > The researchers say the largest near-Earth asteroid, 1036 Ganymed, could > generate a dust cloud dense enough to block 6.58 percent of incoming solar > radiation. The cloud would be about 11 million-billion pounds in mass and > about 1,600 miles wide. > > A main challenge would be pushing an asteroid the size of Ganymed to the > L1 point. > > "The company Planetary Resources recently announced their intention to > mine asteroids," Bewick said. "The study that they base their plans on > reckons that it will be possible to capture an asteroid with a mass of > 500,000 kilograms [1.1 million pounds] by 2025. Comparing this to the mass > of Ganymed makes the task of capturing it seem unfeasible, at least in > everything except the very far term. However, smaller asteroids could be > moved and clustered at the first Lagrange point." > > Safety is also a concern, Bewick said. > > He added, "On the global scale, it is not possible to test because the > test would essentially be the real thing, except probably in a diluted > form. Climate modeling can be performed, but without some large-scale > testing, the results from these models cannot be fully verified." > > The group will publish its findings in the Nov. 12 issue of the journal > *Advances > in Space Research*(Charles Choi, > *LiveScience*<http://www.livescience.com/23553-asteroid-dust-geoenineering-global-warming.html>, > Sept. 28). -- RE > * > * > ** > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. > -- James Fleming STS Program Colby College 5881 Mayflower Hill Waterville, ME 04901 Ph: 207-859-5881 Fax: 207-859-5846 Web: http://www.colby.edu/profile/jfleming <http://web.colby.edu/jfleming> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
