Russia Adv – 1ac

XT – Extinction/All Space

Exploring asteroids in the NEO is key to future space flights and life on Earth

NASA 96 – Referencing Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroid, Comets, and Planets by John Lewis published in 1996

(7/20/11, NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS AS FUTURE RESOURCES, http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/resource.html)

The comets and asteroids that are potentially the most hazardous because they can closely approach the Earth are also the objects that could be most easily exploited for their raw materials. It is not presently cost effective to mine these minerals and then bring them back to Earth. However, these raw materials could be used in developing the space structures and in generating the rocket fuel that will be required to explore and colonize our solar system in the twenty-first century. It has been estimated that the mineral wealth resident in the belt of asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter would be equivalent to about 100 billion dollars for every person on Earth today. Whereas asteroids are rich in the mineral raw materials required to build structures in space, the comets are rich resources for the water and carbon-based molecules necessary to sustain life. In addition, an abundant supply of cometary water ice could provide copious quantities of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, the two primary ingredients in rocket fuel. It seems likely that in the next century when we begin to colonize the inner solar system, the metals and minerals found on asteroids will provide the raw materials for space structures and comets will become the watering holes and gas stations for interplanetary spacecraft.

a2 Adv CPs/Nuke Power K

NEO mitigation requires nuclear propulsion – no other system can provide the necessary energy

Remo 6

[John L. Remo, The New York Academy of Sciences, 12 Jan. 2006 Assessing NEO Hazard Mitigation in Terms of Astrodynamics and Propulsion Systems Requirements, Vol. 1017, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1196/annals.1311.019/full]

The inherent uncertainty in NEO orbits and physical properties places unique demands of a NEO reconnaissance/rendezvous/interception mission to be carried out in a timely manner. For example, the closer to impact the more energy must be expended in a shorter period of time for the equivalent deflection, which in turn increases the uncertainty in the material response and momentum coupling coefficients. NEO mitigation missions are distinct from typical space exploration missions that enjoy the luxury of years of planning based on accurate determinations of the exact position of the target in time. Conventional planetary exploration missions also generally include the advantages of gravitational boosts from other planetary bodies, but the demands of a NEO mitigation require that the mission be executed within an externally imposed time frame and without regard for gravitational boosts and related libration points. This is because the time and place of the mitigation interaction will be determined by what is thought to be the collision course of the NEO with Earth; a NEO mitigation mission will have to be carried out within a constrained time frame dictated by the time to impact Earth. Without necessarily being able to take advantage of a trajectory that is gravitationally boosted (accelerated) by planetary bodies, the NEO interception spacecraft (NIS) must totally rely upon its own power to reach its objective in a timely manner. Furthermore, interception should generally take place as far away from Earth as possible in order to increase the net displacement of an orbital velocity deflection and (ideally) provide a time/distance buffer against unforeseen consequences. These factors place a large burden on the mission and limit propulsion options. Clearly, the above missions require propulsion systems well beyond the limits of even the most efficient and powerful conventional chemical propulsion systems. Because of the unique mission demands, spacecraft used for interception must have a robust propulsion system capable of delivering a large payload at a long range and also be capable of changing its direction to compensate for unanticipated NEO orbital variations. This last requirement demands long specific impulse propulsion systems that can be started and stopped as the need arises to provide ΔV_spacecraft to alter trajectories. Given current propulsion system technology, such a system can only be provided by nuclear reactor based technology that could initially propel the primary spacecraft with nuclear thermal power (NP) and then provide electricity to provide nuclear electric powered (NEP) submodules (secondary units) using electric (plasma) propulsion.
Nuclear propulsion is the most effective way to move small and large asteroids

Future Pundit 4 – Quoting Fr. Astronaut Russell Schweickart (chairman of the B612 foundation which is dedicated to to the development of anti-asteroid defenses), Astronaut Edward Lu (President of the B612 foundation) (4/16/04, We Should Develop Defenses Against Large Asteroidshttp://www.futurepundit.com/archives/002054.html)

How big of an asteroid are we proposing to move? The demonstration asteroid should be large enough to represent a real risk, and the technology used should be scaleable in the future to larger asteroids. We are suggesting picking an asteroid of about 200 meters. A 200 meter asteroid is capable of penetrating the atmosphere and striking the ground with an energy of 600 megatons. Should it land in the ocean (as is likely), it will create an enormous tsunami that could destroy coastal cities. Asteroids of about 150 meters and larger are thought to be comprised of loose conglomerations of pieces, or rubble piles, while smaller asteroids are often single large rocks. The techniques we test on a 200 meter asteroid should therefore also be applicable to larger asteroids. Lu argues that the nuclear propulsion system proposed for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter spacecraft should be used to move an asteroid. How can this be accomplished? This mission is well beyond the capability of conventional chemically powered spacecraft. We are proposing a nuclear powered spacecraft using high efficiency propulsion (ion or plasma engines). Such propulsion packages are currently already under development at NASA as part of the Prometheus Project. In fact, the power and thrust requirements are very similar to the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter spacecraft, currently planned for launch around 2012. The B612 spacecraft would fly to, rendezvous with, and attach to a suitably chosen target asteroid (there are many candidate asteroids which are known to be nowhere near a collision course with Earth). By continuously thrusting, the spacecraft would slowly alter the velocity of the asteroid by a fraction of a cm/sec – enough to be clearly measurable from Earth.
Nuclear propulsion solves asteroid deflection

Spotts, 05 (Peter N., staff writer of the Christian Science Monitor, “To steer an asteroid away from Earth, try a space 'tractor”, 11/14/05, http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1114/p02s01-usgn.html) AFL
If an asteroid ever threatens to collide with Earth, scientists have a toolkit of ideas worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. They might blow it up or divert it by smacking it with a projectile or planting a rocket motor on its surface. Now, two NASA astronauts are proposing a far more subtle approach: a space "tractor" that uses gravity to tow those hurtling space rocks onto a nonthreatening orbit. The issue: Astronomers have their eye on an asteroid called 99942 Apophis, discovered last year. If it hits a gravitational "sweet spot" during a close approach to Earth in 2029, astronomers say it would hit the planet when it returns in 2035 or 2036. The likelihood that Apophis will thread the eye of this gravitational needle is probably vanishingly small, they add, but they haven't been able to calculate the asteroid's orbit with enough precision yet to know for sure. If diversion of Apophis, or any other asteroid, becomes necessary, the typical toolkit of approaches falls short, says astronaut Edward Lu. He and fellow astronaut Stanley Love describe the tractor concept in a paper appearing in the current issue of the journal Nature. "You want a system with predictable results," he says. Unfortunately, approaches discussed so far don't guarantee astronomers would get the desired effect. Some have dubbed them "blast and hope" methods, he says. Dr. Lu and Mr. Love figured there had to be a better way. Their high-tech John Deere is a pendulum-like spacecraft with most of its mass at one end and thrusters at the other. The craft would hover above the asteroid's surface with the heavy end closest to the space rock. Mutual gravitational attraction between the tractor and the asteroid connects the two objects. Using nozzles carefully aimed to avoid the exhaust hitting the asteroid, and relatively gentle "puffs" of thrust, the tug could haul an asteroid into a new orbit in a predictable way. If the asteroid has its own tiny moons - as an increasing number of asteroids appear to have - they get pulled along as well. "It's a beautiful and entirely new idea," notes Clark Chapman, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., who studies asteroids, comets, and other small bodies in the solar system. A significant challenge to blast-and-hope approaches is that their effect depends a great deal on whether the asteroid is a rubble pile or a chunk of metal. Indeed, some researchers have argued that if an asteroid threatens, humans would need to mount a robotic reconnaissance mission to find out how the object is put together before they could figure out how to deal with it effectively. With a gravitational tractor, it doesn't matter if the asteroid "has the consistency of a mountain of metal or a mountain of cotton candy. It can be moved without having to interact with it," Dr. Chapman explains. Lu adds that asteroids can have odd shapes, and they tumble as they move along their orbits. A rocket motor place on the asteroid's surface would face serious steering problems. The key to their idea, he and Love hold, is the right propulsion system - nuclear-electric motors. These are the only type of motors that can develop the velocity needed to close in on a potentially hazardous asteroid, then provide the gentle thrust over the decade or more needed to adjust the asteroid's orbit. Researchers have sent craft to asteroids using chemical propulsion, he acknowledges. But mission planners have had the luxury of picking tortoise-paced targets relative to Earth's motion. Most asteroids that make up the population of near-Earth objects move much faster. As elegant as Lu and Love's approach appears, it may not lift off the pages of Nature very soon. NASA has shelved a project to develop nuclear propulsion - a casualty of the agency's effort to focus technology development on a replacement for the space shuttles, due for retirement in five years.