Related papers: Debris Engine: A Potential Thruster for Space Debr…
The Debris Disk Explorer (DDX) is a proposed balloon-borne investigation of debris disks around nearby stars. Debris disks are analogs of the Asteroid Belt (mainly rocky) and Kuiper Belt (mainly icy) in our Solar System. DDX will measure…
Achieving relativistic flight to enable extrasolar exploration is one of the dreams of humanity and the long term goal of our NASA Starlight program. We derive a fully relativistic solution for the motion of a spacecraft propelled by…
Observational appearance of debris disks is largely controlled by collisional grinding of their dust grains. However, the mechanical strength of dust at sizes in the micrometer to millimeter range is poorly known. Recent studies suggested…
Commercial lunar activity is accelerating the need for reliable surface infrastructure and routine operations to keep it functioning. Maintenance tasks such as inspection, cleaning, dust mitigation, and minor repair are essential to…
The author applies, develops and researches mini-sized Micro- AB Thermonuclear Reactors for space propulsion and space power systems. These small engines directly convert the high speed charged particles produced in the thermonuclear…
Context. Circumstellar disks are known to contain a significant mass in dust ranging from micron to centimeter size. Meteorites are evidence that individual grains of those sizes were collected and assembled into planetesimals in the young…
The disintegrating planet candidate K2-22 b shows periodic and stochastic transits best explained by an escaping debris cloud. However, the mechanism that creates the debris cloud is unknown. The grain size of the debris as well as its…
The surface energy constraint puts a limit on the smallest fragment $s_{surf}$ that can be produced after a collision. Based on analytical considerations, this mechanism has been recently identified as been potentially able to prevent the…
The study of the last stages of planet formation, also known as debris disks, is fundamental to place constrains on the formation of planetary sized bodies. Debris disks are composed of dust and occasionally small amounts of gas, both…
To date, insect scale robots capable of controlled flight have used flapping wings for generating lift, but this requires a complex and failure-prone mechanism. A simpler alternative is electrohydrodynamic (EHD) thrust, which requires no…
Debris disk images show clumps, rings, warps, and other structures, many of which have been interpreted as perturbations from hidden planets. But so far, no models of these structures have properly accounted for collisions between dust…
Studies have concluded that active debris removal (ADR) of the existing in-orbit mass is necessary. However, the quest for an optimal solution does not have a unique answer and the available data often lacks coherence. To improve this…
This work presents a mission concept for in-orbit particle collection for sampling and exploration missions towards Near-Earth asteroids. Ejecta is generated via a small kinetic impactor and two possible collection strategies are…
Any rotorcraft on Mars will fly in a low pressure and dusty environment. It is well known that helicopters on Earth become highly-charged due, in part, to triboelectric effects when flying in sandy conditions. We consider the possibility…
Debris disks should not be completely gas-free, since there is second generation gas from outgassing of planetesimals and dust grains via sublimation, photodesorption, or collisions, generating a system of dust-to-gas ratio close to unity,…
Debris belts on the periphery of planetary systems, encompassing the region occupied by planetary orbits, are massive analogues of the Solar system's Kuiper belt. They are detected by thermal emission of dust released in collisions amongst…
Comprehensive analysis of space debris rotational dynamics is vital for active debris removal missions that require physical capture or de-tumbling of a target. We study the attitude motion of used rocket bodies acknowledgedly belonging to…
Magnetically driven astrophysical jets are related to accretion and involve toroidal magnetic field pressure inflating poloidal magnetic field flux surfaces. Examination of particle motion in combined gravitational and magnetic fields shows…
A necessary first step for dust removal in protoplanetary disc winds is the delivery of dust from the disc to the wind. In the case of ionized winds, the disc and wind are sharply delineated by a narrow ionization front where the gas…
Experiments were performed to study how rocket exhaust blows soil in lunar and Martian conditions. Jets of gas were blown downwardly at various granular materials while a camera recorded the formation of scour holes as the material was…