Low-energy capture of asteroids onto KAM tori

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel low-energy method for capturing asteroids onto stable orbits near Earth using chaos-assisted techniques, eliminating the need for complex control strategies.

Contribution

It adapts chaos-assisted capture theories to engineer asteroid capture onto KAM tori with minimal energy and no control, enhancing planetary defense and space resource utilization.

Findings

Method successfully captures an asteroid onto KAM tori with low delta-v.

No control strategies are required for the capture process.

The approach is demonstrated as viable for Earth's asteroid capture scenarios.

Abstract

We present a new method for engineering the artificial capture of asteroids. Based on theories of the chaos-assisted capture of natural satellites of the giant planets, we show how an unbound asteroid that passes close to a regular region of phase space can be easily moved onto the nearby KAM tori and essentially permanently captured with the Earth's Hill sphere without closing the zero velocity curves. The method has the advantages of a relatively low delta-v requirement and no need for control strategies. An illustration of the method is given for an example asteroid trajectory, demonstrating that it is a viable strategy for the final capture stage of asteroids in the Earth's neighbourhood.