The 365 Days of Astronomy Travelers in the Night Eps. 863 & 864: Space Elevator & Lunar Debris
Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org
From August 2025.
Today's 2 topics:
- In a recent study Dr. Lynnane George and her co-authors investigate Space Elevator technology to remove materials from Ceres and deliver them to orbital depots around the solar system. The tiny gravity of Ceres, nano-fiber technology, and different water propulsion systems are utilized by Dr. George and her team to construct theoretically possible systems which would extract raw materials from Ceres and deliver them to low Earth orbit and other locations within the solar system. These researchers estimate such a transport system could reduce fuel costs by up to 60% compared to transport from the Earth's surface.
- Asteroid 2024 YR4 will not hit the Earth in 2032, has a 4% chance of hitting the Moon, and most likely will pass within 900 miles of the lunar surface. If 2024 YR4 were to impact the Moon it could send about the mass of several small cargo ships into space with lunar escape velocity and could pose a threat to our satellites. [Editor's note: Using JWST data, it's just been calculated to miss the Moon, unfortunately. Maybe next time…]
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