It was originally designed and tested by NASA for Mars missions. In my case, it does not have to work 100%. Even if it survives for only 1 minute or so, during atmospheric entry - it could add some value to an asteroid mining mission.
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
6
asked Jan 28, 2023 at 20:51
-
$\begingroup$ I am looking for a way to decrease the chances of a 100-ton metallic asteroid (piece from it) breaking apart during atmospheric entry. $\endgroup$– TheMatrix Equation-balanceCommented Jan 28, 2023 at 21:19
-
$\begingroup$ @GremlinWranger - good question. I was not thinking about that part. I thought Earth's gravity assist will be sufficient to get on LEO. $\endgroup$– TheMatrix Equation-balanceCommented Jan 28, 2023 at 23:04
-
$\begingroup$ @GremlinWranger - thank you very much. Do you think I will be ridiculed if I bring up the option of using an inflatable heat shield in Earth's atmosphere? Some people tell me that this is a nonstarter, because it was designed for a thinner Mars atmosphere. $\endgroup$– TheMatrix Equation-balanceCommented Jan 28, 2023 at 23:13
-
1$\begingroup$ While I appreciate the accepted answer tick, it is generally a good idea to wait at least 24 hours for people in other timezones to have a look, it may turn out there are newer/better design studies or that I completely malfunctioned the math. $\endgroup$– GremlinWrangerCommented Jan 29, 2023 at 2:20
-
1$\begingroup$ @GremlinWranger - You were very generous. The details you've provided and the reference to "Advanced European Re-Entry System" were very important for my article. $\endgroup$– TheMatrix Equation-balanceCommented Jan 29, 2023 at 5:21
|
Show 1 more comment
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
For LEO the answer appears to be a qualified yes.
This design study looks at recovering the 150 kg Vega upper stage using a 4.5 meter diameter system. Scaling for area to get 100 tonnes that looks like a 50 meter radius.
This is notably larger than the 100 tonne space shuttle orbiter with a 23 meter wingspan, due to the larger heat flux that could be tolerated. If a more robust design is possible the area can probably be reduced closer to the 37 by 23 meter shuttle.
Engineering a 50 meter structure that is inflatable is probably not possible but assuming robotic or human assembly presumably already required to load the asteroid into the system a flat pack solution using the same flexible heat shield surface with an assembled supporting structure probably is achievable, possibly also allowing a higher heat loading and therefore smaller dimensions.
answered Jan 29, 2023 at 1:44