CAJ - abstract

Acta Astronautica
Volume 73, April–May 2012, Pages 49–66
Assessment on the feasibility of future shepherding of asteroid resources

Abstract

Most plausible futures for space exploration and exploitation require a large mass in Earth orbit. Delivering this mass requires overcoming the Earth's natural gravity well, which imposes a distinct obstacle to any future space venture. An alternative solution is to search for more accessible resources elsewhere. In particular, this paper examines the possibility of future utilisation of near Earth asteroid resources. The accessibility of asteroid material can be estimated by analysing the volume of Keplerian orbital element space from which Earth can be reached under a certain energy threshold and then by mapping this analysis onto an existing statistical near Earth objects (NEO) model. Earth is reached through orbital transfers defined by a series of impulsive manoeuvres and computed using the patched-conic approximation. The NEO model allows an estimation of the probability of finding an object that could be transferred with a given Δv budget. For the first time, a resource map provides a realistic assessment of the mass of material resources in near Earth space as a function of energy investment. The results show that there is a considerable mass of resources that can be accessed and exploited at relatively low levels of energy. More importantly, asteroid resources can be accessed with an entire spectrum of levels of energy, unlike other more massive bodies such as the Earth or Moon, which require a minimum energy threshold implicit in their gravity well. With this resource map, the total change of velocity required to capture an asteroid, or transfer its resources to Earth, can be estimated as a function of object size. Thus, realistic examples of asteroid resource utilisation can be provided.

Purpose: Most plausible futures of space exploration require a large mass in Earth orbit. Delivering this mass requires overcoming the Earth’s natural gravity… (=Context of the problem);

Scope: This paper examines the possibility of future utilisation of NEA resources

Methods: Accessibility of asteroid material can be estimated by analysing the volume of Keplerian… ; the NEO model estimates probability of finding an object…; resource map provides realistic assessment of the mass of material resources

Findings: Results show that there is a considerable mass of resources that can be accessed and exploited; asteroid resources can be accessed with an entire spectrum of levels of energy

Conclusion: With this resource map, velocity required to transfer resources to Earth can be estimated; realistic examples of asteroid resource utilisation can be provided

The abstract is well written and organized and contains all elements of an abstract, namely the purpose (=the context of the problem), the scope (=what the author’s attention is exactly), methods (=methodology used and materials involved), findings (=what the results show, an interpretation of the results’ significance) and a conclusion (=what can be done with the findings).

However, there are some functions in it which makes the abstract a bit complicated.