Mahalobay

From the moment we started conceptualizing Abundance, and partly due to the pedigree from which the story idea sprung, Luke and I wanted to craft a story that could be theoretically possible x number of years in the future from our present day technological underpinnings. 

This led us to consult with Suzannah Rakowski, a PhD in orbital mechanics from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Dr Rakowski graciously laid out a detailed Powerpoint mission profile for our asteroid retrieval mission. Some of the details, such as the 15 month mission window, capture and return procedures are mentioned in passing in the book, but the primary aim of the Powerpoint was to help us visualize the timeframe of events laid out in the book.

Suzannah’s presentation provided us with the backbone of what the mission would look like, and allowed us to play what-if scenarios that influenced the structure of the entire story. It also presented us with some minor technical issues – little things like the rockets we need for such a mission do not currently exist.

So of course we do what all scifi writers have done since the beginning of time – we just straight up tell the reader that it’s possible, and then never discuss it again.

“Magnetized target fusion engine,” DeWaal explained. “Based on the Tokamak. Some smartass Russian guys came up with it… those cocky bastards. We, uh… licensed the technology.”

(To be fair, It’s not entirely made up… MTF has been theorized as a possible source of propulsion in future spacecraft)

With the now-stated existence of such engines, Suzannah’s document allowed us to plan out the sequence of events in the book (which I won’t go into detail here because spoilers), and even influenced such details as radio delay time between Earth and asteroid, and the duration of engine burns to modify the trajectories of certain large space objects.

To learn more about orbital mechanics, search for videos on youtube such as this primer on “falling fast enough to never fall down”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcvnfQlz1x4