Related papers: Directed Energy Missions for Planetary Defense
The DARWIN mission is an Infrared free flying interferometer mission based on the new technique of nulling interferometry. Its main objective is to detect and characterize other Earth-like planets, analyze the composition of their…
Extrasolar debris disks are detected by observing dust, which is thought to be released during planetesimal collisions. This implies that planetesimals are dynamically excited ("stirred"), such that collisions are sufficiently common and…
The digitization and decentralization of the electric power grid are key thrusts for an economically and environmentally sustainable future. Towards this goal, distributed energy resources (DER), including rooftop solar panels, battery…
The recent growing interest in small solar system bodies such as asteroids and comets for scientific inspection, exploitation of resources, and planetary defense reasons is pushing the development of innovative engineering solutions to…
We focus on preventing collisions between debris and debris, for which there is no current, effective mitigation strategy. We investigate the feasibility of using a medium-powered (5 kW) ground-based laser combined with a ground-based…
A bent crystal shield which is capable of deflecting cosmic radiation ions of all atomic numbers away from spacecraft using the ion channeling effect is described. Its effect on the transmitted angular distribution of heavy, high-energy…
Most of our knowledge of planets orbiting nearby stars comes from Doppler surveys. For spaced-based, high-contrast imaging missions, nearby stars with Doppler-discovered planets are attractive targets. The known orbits tell imaging missions…
A chaser satellite equipped with robotic arms can capture space debris and manipulate it for use in more advanced missions such as refueling and deorbiting. To facilitate capturing, a caging-based strategy has been proposed to simplify the…
Metal pollution in white dwarf photospheres originates from the accretion of some combination of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, boulders, pebbles and dust. When large bodies reside in dynamically stagnant locations -- unable themselves…
Modern satellites deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) accommodate processing payloads that can be exploited for edge computing. Furthermore, by implementing inter-satellite links, the LEO satellites in a constellation can route the data…
Laser-driven ion acceleration from nanostructured targets offers a promising route to compact, high-energy ion sources. In this work, we demonstrate through particle-in-cell simulations that rectangular nanoring targets significantly…
A new electrostatic ramjet space engine is proposed and analyzed. The upper atmosphere (85 -1000 km) is extremely dense in ions (millions per cubic cm). The interplanetary medium contains positive protons from the solar wind. A charged ball…
Generation of quasi-monoenergetic ion pulse by laser-driven acceleration is one of the hot topics in laser plasma physics. In this study, we present a new method for the \textit{In-situ} deposition of an ultra-thin D$_2$O layer on the…
Asteroid mining has been proposed as an approach to complement Earth-based supplies of rare earth metals and supplying resources in space, such as water. However, existing studies on the economic viability of asteroid mining have remained…
Direct laser acceleration has proven to be an efficient source of high-charge electron bunches and high brilliance X-rays. However, an analytical description of the acceleration in the interaction with varying plasma density targets is…
Stellar flares are powerful bursts of electromagnetic radiation triggered by magnetic reconnection in the chromosphere of stars, occurring frequently and intensely on active M dwarfs. While missions like TESS and Kepler have studied regular…
With the rapid development of sixth-generation (6G) communication technology, global communication networks are moving towards the goal of comprehensive and seamless coverage. In particular, low earth orbit (LEO) satellites have become a…
Laser manipulation plays a critical role in precisely tailoring relativistic electron beams through energy modulation, enabling the generation of coherent, intense, and ultrashort radiation in accelerator-based light sources such as…
Direct imaging of extra-solar planets has now become a reality, especially with the deployment and commissioning of the first generation of specialized ground-based instruments such as the GPI, SPHERE, P1640 and SCExAO. These systems will…
We define a set of procedures to numerically study the fate of ejecta produced by the impact of an artificial projectile with the aim of deflecting an asteroid. Here we develop a simplified, idealized model of impact conditions that can be…