Key Takeaways
1. Dr. John V. Sandusky from Sandia National Laboratories is repurposing heliostat fields, typically used for solar energy, to track near-Earth asteroids and lost spacecraft at night.
2. The innovative tracking method focuses on detecting frequency shifts in starlight reflected off moving objects instead of using traditional imaging techniques.
3. Initial testing at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility confirmed the precision of heliostat adjustments, although no asteroids were detected during the trial.
4. This approach could enhance existing systems like NASA’s Atlas for asteroid detection and improve tracking capabilities in cislunar space.
5. Heliostats are cost-effective and mass-produced, making them suitable for continuous sky observation during nighttime when they would otherwise remain idle.
A researcher from Sandia National Laboratories is looking into a rather unusual application for heliostat fields, which are groups of mirrors normally utilized for solar thermal energy. He aims to adapt these systems during the night to identify near-Earth asteroids and lost spacecraft in cislunar space. Dr. John V. Sandusky shared this innovative concept at the 2024 Optical Engineering + Applications conference.
A New Tracking Method
Instead of using standard imaging techniques, Sandusky’s approach focuses on monitoring frequency shifts in starlight that is reflected. As the heliostats track the paths of stars, any object, such as an asteroid, that moves relative to those stars will create a detectable frequency shift. He mentioned that “even shifts as tiny as one-millionth of a cycle per second can be detected.”
Testing the System
During a trial at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility, Sandusky operated one of the 212 heliostats to bounce back starlight, demonstrating that it could adjust with the necessary precision. Although the test did not result in the detection of an asteroid, the main aim was to confirm the reliability of the control system and the overall methodology.
A Scientific Night Shift
In essence, this proposal could provide a scientific “night job” for otherwise idle heliostat arrays, particularly to enhance current systems like NASA’s Atlas, which consists of telescopes aimed at identifying near-Earth asteroids. Sandusky thinks that this same technique might also aid in tracking spacecraft in the challenging region between Earth and the Moon.
Heliostats are relatively affordable when compared to telescopes and are already mass-produced, making them valuable for continuous sky observation. “Solar thermal mirrors just sit there at night,” Sandusky pointed out. “We might as well make use of them.”
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