Rotating space colonies

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, b wrote:
>
> If you go to the Spacesettlers list homepage
search function that will bring up a lot of previous discussion on
this topic....
>
> B

Hi B,

Boy am I out of date about space settlements! I wasn't even aware
of the Kalpana One study until I saw the link today. I read the study
revision (12 pages) and I'll need to go back to the original study to
see what's in it.

The Kalpana One design (with associated supporting calculations)
has convinced me that it's the most practical settlement proposal
I've seen so far. One interesting comment in the study mentions using
material from NEO's (Near Earth Objects) to provide the mega-tonnage
of shielding needed for the settlement.

At the risk of sounding naive, I immediately thought of the earth
crossing asteriod that is expected to come within about 20,000 miles
of the Earth in 2029 (I think). Would it be possible to deflect its
orbit in such a way that it could be captured by Earth's gravity and
enter into an elongated Earth-centric elliptical orbit? Would such an
attempt be too risky - given that a miscalculation or malfunction
might send this object hurtling right towarsd Earth (I have visions
of Jupiter's encounter with Shoemaker-Levy Nine in mind)?
Any thoughts on this (pro or con) are welcome.

Chris