[The idea also has serious problems with it. It might be impractical. But it is an interesting line of thinking. Jan]
Humans are trying to reach Mars, but a trip on board a spacecraft will cost a lot of money and time, besides tackling several other logistical matters, such as how to battle harmful levels of radiation. Researchers from Ukraine have come up with an innovative way to travel to the red planet – hitchhike your way to a planet on an asteroid.
Asteroids zoom past several planets in the universe and the scientists see it as a solution the cosmos already presents to humans who wish to travel between planets. So why not hop on them to reach Mars?
A trip to Mars will have a huge effect on the physical health of astronauts. It is around 225 million km away from Earth and a journey to and fro will take about three years. This means prolonged exposure to radiation and microgravity, leading to loss of muscles and bone density. Returning to Earth’s gravity will likely become impossible and heart issues are also likely to crop up.
AS Kasianchuk and VM Reshetnyk from the National University of Kyiv in Ukraine, authors of the paper, analysed the orbit of more than 35,000 near-Earth asteroids to understand the possibility of making successive approaches to pairs of planets Earth–Venus and Earth-Mars within a time range of 2020 to 2120.
They say asteroids can be used as interplanetary busses which will prove to be a much faster mode of transport between the planets. The researchers estimate the trips might even be completed within as soon as 180 days.
Several asteroids have been shortlisted
They have zeroed in on 120 candidates for Earth-Mars, Earth-Venus, Mars-Earth, Venus-Earth, and even Mars-Venus and Venus-Mars trips.
If the idea works out, it cancels out the need for creating a spacecraft to carry humans to other planers. However, a technological solution would still be needed to protect one against radiation.
The list of asteroids that can potentially help with planet-hopping will only grow since near-Earth objects are regularly discovered. NASA’s NEO Surveyor mission will prove to be of crucial help in this area as it is working to find more than 90 per cent of all NEOs larger than 140 metres in diameter.
Experts believe the right asteroid can prove extremely useful in the cosmic journey. Astronauts can possibly use it as a fuel station and seek shelter under features like caves to shield themselves from radiation.