Photo credit: University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw
Building a space habitat on the Moon or Mars with artificial gravity actually sounds plausible, but what about inside real asteroids? University of Rochester researchers believe the latter is possible by covering an asteroid in a flexible, mesh bag made of ultralight and high-strength carbon nanofibers—tubes. This bag would envelope and support the entire spinning mass of the asteroid’s rubble as well as the habitat inside.
The process of turning an asteroid into a space habitat would include first spinning one to create artificial gravity with its rubble helping to expand the carbon nanofiber bag and once that is complete, the carbon nanofibers would snap taut, catching the expanding rubble. Once the rubble settles against the bag, it would produce a layer thick enough to shield against radiation for anyone living inside. Spinning this cylinder would generate artificial gravity on the inner surface.
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A cylindrical containment bag constructed from carbon nanotubes would be extremely light relative to the mass of the asteroid rubble and the habitat, yet strong enough to hold everything together. Even better, carbon nanotubes are being developed today, with much interest in scaling up their production for use in larger-scale applications,” said Peter Miklavčič, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering and the paper’s first author.
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