[FPSPACE] Magnets help spacecraft fly in formation

[LARRY KLAES]

Magnets help spacecraft fly in formation

19:46 06 May 2008

NewScientist.com news service

David Shiga

Superconducting magnets could help a fleet of spacecraft fly in precise 
formation without using up limited fuel reserves, two groups of researchers 
say. But others foresee problems with the technology.

Many proposals for groundbreaking space missions require multiple spacecraft 
to fly in formation, including NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder, which would 
hunt for Earth-like planets around other stars, and the Laser Interferometer 
Space Antenna (LISA), which would search for ripples in the fabric of space 
called gravitational waves.

One way to keep spacecraft in the right arrangement is to use thrusters, 
which fire jets of gas to push a craft in the opposite direction. 
Unfortunately, thrusters can limit the lifetime of a mission because they 
rely on limited supplies of fuel.

But two groups of researchers are developing a technology that replaces 
thrusters with electromagnets.

Full article plus video and images here:

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13846?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=dn13846