A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research

Abstract We advocate a low-cost strategy for long-duration research into the ‘milligravity’ environment of asteroids, comets and small moons, where surface gravity is a vector field typically less than 1/1000 the gravity of Earth. Unlike the microgravity environment of space, there is a directionali...

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Autores principales:	Erik Asphaug, Jekan Thangavelautham, Andrew Klesh, Aman Chandra, Ravi Nallapu, Laksh Raura, Mercedes Herreras-Martinez, Stephen Schwartz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Biotechnology TP248.13-248.65 Physiology QP1-981
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a95e5af676a247ed8a7757e404a846df
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:a95e5af676a247ed8a7757e404a846df
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a95e5af676a247ed8a7757e404a846df2021-12-02T15:18:48ZA cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research10.1038/s41526-017-0021-02373-8065https://doaj.org/article/a95e5af676a247ed8a7757e404a846df2017-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-017-0021-0https://doaj.org/toc/2373-8065Abstract We advocate a low-cost strategy for long-duration research into the ‘milligravity’ environment of asteroids, comets and small moons, where surface gravity is a vector field typically less than 1/1000 the gravity of Earth. Unlike the microgravity environment of space, there is a directionality that gives rise, over time, to strangely familiar geologic textures and landforms. In addition to advancing planetary science, and furthering technologies for hazardous asteroid mitigation and in situ resource utilization, simplified access to long-duration milligravity offers significant potential for advancing human spaceflight, biomedicine and manufacturing. We show that a commodity 3U (10 × 10 × 34 cm3) cubesat containing a laboratory of loose materials can be spun to 1 r.p.m. = 2π/60 s−1 on its long axis, creating a centrifugal force equivalent to the surface gravity of a kilometer-sized asteroid. We describe the first flight demonstration, where small meteorite fragments will pile up to create a patch of real regolith under realistic asteroid conditions, paving the way for subsequent missions where landing and mobility technology can be flight-proven in the operational environment, in low-Earth orbit. The 3U design can be adapted for use onboard the International Space Station to allow for variable gravity experiments under ambient temperature and pressure for a broader range of experiments.Erik AsphaugJekan ThangavelauthamAndrew KleshAman ChandraRavi NallapuLaksh RauraMercedes Herreras-MartinezStephen SchwartzNature PortfolioarticleBiotechnologyTP248.13-248.65PhysiologyQP1-981ENnpj Microgravity, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 1-5 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Biotechnology TP248.13-248.65 Physiology QP1-981
spellingShingle	Biotechnology TP248.13-248.65 Physiology QP1-981 Erik Asphaug Jekan Thangavelautham Andrew Klesh Aman Chandra Ravi Nallapu Laksh Raura Mercedes Herreras-Martinez Stephen Schwartz A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research
description	Abstract We advocate a low-cost strategy for long-duration research into the ‘milligravity’ environment of asteroids, comets and small moons, where surface gravity is a vector field typically less than 1/1000 the gravity of Earth. Unlike the microgravity environment of space, there is a directionality that gives rise, over time, to strangely familiar geologic textures and landforms. In addition to advancing planetary science, and furthering technologies for hazardous asteroid mitigation and in situ resource utilization, simplified access to long-duration milligravity offers significant potential for advancing human spaceflight, biomedicine and manufacturing. We show that a commodity 3U (10 × 10 × 34 cm3) cubesat containing a laboratory of loose materials can be spun to 1 r.p.m. = 2π/60 s−1 on its long axis, creating a centrifugal force equivalent to the surface gravity of a kilometer-sized asteroid. We describe the first flight demonstration, where small meteorite fragments will pile up to create a patch of real regolith under realistic asteroid conditions, paving the way for subsequent missions where landing and mobility technology can be flight-proven in the operational environment, in low-Earth orbit. The 3U design can be adapted for use onboard the International Space Station to allow for variable gravity experiments under ambient temperature and pressure for a broader range of experiments.
format	article
author	Erik Asphaug Jekan Thangavelautham Andrew Klesh Aman Chandra Ravi Nallapu Laksh Raura Mercedes Herreras-Martinez Stephen Schwartz
author_facet	Erik Asphaug Jekan Thangavelautham Andrew Klesh Aman Chandra Ravi Nallapu Laksh Raura Mercedes Herreras-Martinez Stephen Schwartz
author_sort	Erik Asphaug
title	A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research
title_short	A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research
title_full	A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research
title_fullStr	A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research
title_full_unstemmed	A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research
title_sort	cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/a95e5af676a247ed8a7757e404a846df
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A cubesat centrifuge for long duration milligravity research

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