On an idea about the method of absorbing spin motion of an asteroid for capture

Abstract

This paper presents a method to remove the spin of a target asteroid for a capture mission. The idea uses a small robotic spacecraft either launched separately or carried on the larger mother spacecraft. The small spacecraft first winds up a tether around the target asteroid while itself playing the role of a tip mass, as in a Yo-Yo mechanism. The operation may rely on sophisticated robotic technology, and may include the surface mobile agent jettisoned from the spacecraft. Show more