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Diffractive Solar Sails Could Deflect Killer Asteroids at 100 km/s
Key Takeaways
- DART proved a kinetic impactor can move a small asteroid, but it approached from behind at only about 6 km/s.
- Researchers at Beihang University propose using a new type of solar sail to hit an asteroid head-on at around 100 km/s.
- A head-on strike could impart roughly 230 times the force per kilogram of impactor mass compared with DART.
- The main challenge is reaching a clockwise retrograde orbit, which chemical rockets cannot achieve due to the rocket equation.
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DT Editorial Team··via universetoday.com