Painting Asteroids for Planetary Defense
J. I. Katz

TL;DR
This paper proposes a method to alter asteroid orbits for planetary defense by applying reflective coatings, changing their solar radiation forces, and demonstrating the feasibility of displacing asteroids sufficiently over decades.
Contribution
It introduces a novel asteroid deflection technique using surface albedo modification via vapor-deposited reflective coatings, enabling long-term orbit adjustments with minimal material.
Findings
Coating an asteroid can shift its orbit by hundreds to thousands of kilometers over a century.
Applying a thin reflective layer can prevent impacts from small to medium-sized asteroids.
The method requires minimal material, making it a feasible planetary defense strategy.
Abstract
Asteroidal impact threats to the Earth will be predicted a century or more in advance. Changing an asteroid's albedo changes the force of Solar radiation on it, and hence its orbit. Albedo may be changed by applying a thin () reflective coat of alkali metal, dispensed as vapor by an orbiting spacecraft. A complete coat reduces the effective Solar gravity, changing the orbital period. A Tunguska-class (50 m diameter) asteroid in a nominal orbit with perihelion 1 AU and aphelion 3 AU (AU, ) may be displaced along its path by km in 100 years, sufficient to avoid impact in a populated area, by application of one kg of lithium or sodium metal over its entire surface. Alternatively, coating one hemisphere of an asteroid in an elliptical orbit may produce a Solar radiation torque, analogous to but distinct from the Yarkovsky effect, displacing it…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstro and Planetary Science · Planetary Science and Exploration · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
