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BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) – The next time your children ask you to bring them a star from the sky, you will not have to shrug and leave. Tell them to wait instead
A group of Chinese scientists is considering a bold idea to capture a small asteroid close to Earth, which could be a potential threat, and bring it back to Earth to exploit its resources.
"It sounds like science fiction, but I believe it can be realized," said Li Mingtao, a researcher at the National Center for Space Science of the China Academy of Sciences
Li and his team raised the bold idea in a contest The contest encouraged young Chinese scientists to design groundbreaking technologies and stimulate innovation.
The process could begin with a spacecraft carrying innovative new technologies in Shenzhen, in the southern province of Guangdong. a huge bag to wrap a small asteroid and push it back to Earth. Then he would unfold a heat shield to reduce the speed of the asteroid when it enters the earth's atmosphere, and would control it to land safely in a non-human area, explains Li.
Huang Wei, chief engineer of an institute of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, said the idea is very creative and could help promote the development of space technologies.
Li said that many key technologies should be addressed to achieve the goal. A challenge would be to find an appropriate target. The smaller an asteroid, the more difficult it is to discover. Telescopes in the field can only find small asteroids when they are very close.
Li works with space engineers at the Qian Xuesen Space Technology Laboratory, under the direction of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, to develop a satellite plan. constellation on the heliocentric orbit of Venus. The satellites will be used to search and analyze small celestial bodies near the Earth of a diameter of about 10 meters.
He said that the most difficult challenge could be the control of the asteroid after it enters the Earth 's atmosphere. They must design a heat shield, and drop the speed of the asteroid from 12.5 km per second to about 140 meters per second before touching a designated area.
To analyze the feasibility of the plan, Li's team targeted a small asteroid to more than 100 million km. It measures about 6.4 meters in diameter and weighs several hundred tons
The main components of the asteroid are still unclear and require more observations and analyzes to determine. Li calculated that the appropriate time to launch an asteroid sensor would be 2029, and it could be brought back to Earth in 2034.
Some asteroids close to Earth are in danger of collision with the Earth. An asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere over Russia in February 2013 and exploded over Chelyabinsk, killing more than 1,500 people and about 3,000 damaged buildings.
Several scientists believe that the extinction of dinosaurs was caused by an asteroid or comet with the Earth.
However, many asteroids contain resources with great scientific and economic values. The study of the formation and evolution of asteroids could illuminate the origins of the solar system, as well as the origins of life and water on Earth.
NASA plans to launch a spaceship in 2022, which is due to arrive at an asteroid named Psyche in 2026. More than 95% of Psyche seems to be made of iron, nickel and other metals such as that gold, platinum and copper
"Spatial exploitation could become a new engine for the global economy.", said Li.
Up to now , the United States and Japan have probed asteroids. Japan reported a sample
After sending a probe to Mars in 2020, China plans to explore asteroids and even land on one to conduct scientific research. "
" Contrary to the missions to report samples, an entire asteroid weighing several hundred tons, which could turn asteroids with a potential threat to the Earth into usable resources, "said Li.
Li, 36 , started dreaming about space when he was growing up in the country.He liked to watch the stars and watch meteors flying in the sky.He studied spacecraft design at the university.
After joining the National Space Science Center, he participated in Chinese space science programs and helped to design the trajectory of the Chang-e-2 probe at the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system. the flying spacecraft furthest away from China
Li often spoke with his colleagues about the possibility of predicting the landing points of shooting stars
One day an idea struck him
"Our analysis shows that the maneuver of a small asteroid is feasible in principle, and that it could bring enormous economic and social benefits," said Li.
"Prevent the danger of asteroids near the Earth will also help the shared future of humanity, "he added.
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