/sci/ - Science & Math

>>12616589
>SS Krystal's...Feet you are clear to dock with pad 12
>please wait in your vessel until a cleaning crew arrives
>no I do not hear gun fire

How viable are asteroid stations?

Does making a base on one of Mars' moons before placing people on the planet's surface make sense?

Would it be more practical to have a space station be around, on, or in a large asteroid (assuming that a rotating section for living gravity is needed)?

For smaller asteroids that aren't rubble piles, having the station be fixed in the rock and then have the whole asteroid spin makes the most sense. However, the issue becomes more tricky for larger asteroids as those would require huge amounts of energy and time to spin up. Energy and time that could've been better spent placing the station elsewhere. Having the station orbit the asteroid is the simplest option, but station keeping propellant costs may be prohibitive in the long term. Having the station be attached to the asteroid (either directly or via a tether) and then have a separate rotating section could work, but the joints between the rotating and non-rotating sections can sap rotational energy and thus require respinning. This respinning cost may be prohibitive too depending on the size of the station.

Thoughts, /sfg/?