Kalpana One design (was Rotating space colonies)

On 10/3/10 10:08 PM, brooksn wrote:

> I don't really understand why it would take decades and multiple passes
> to nudge a tiny (5 meter) asteroid from an already passing very near to
> Earth course, to an aerobraking course with the upper atmosphere. But I
> could be missing something.

My assumption here is that (as in other aerobraking maneuvers) it takes
more than one pass to effect that much change in the orbit. But in this
case, each pass will be very long.

But I could be missing something too -- this is tricky stuff, and we
really need someone experienced in orbital mechanics to crank out some
numbers.

Best,
- Joe