Introduction
CHENG Bin, assistant professor at the School of Aerospace, Tsinghua University. His primary research focuses on extraterrestrial body exploration and space resource development. CHENG Bin has published several papers in top journals, such as Nature Astronomy. His work has been featured in interviews by media outlets such as CCTV News, BBC, and CNN. He has participated in China's Tianwen-2 asteroid exploration mission and China’s asteroid impact deflection mission.
Education background
2012.8-2016.7 BE, School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University
2016.8-2021.6 PhD, School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University
2019.9-2020.9 Joint PhD, University of Arizona
Experience
2021.7-2024.7 Postdoctor, School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University
2024.8-present Assistant Professor, School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University
Areas of Research Interests/ Research Projects
Extraterrestrial Body Exploration, Space Resource Utilization
Research Status
1. Dynamical Evolution of Extraterrestrial Bodies: explain various peculiar phenomena observed in space missions from a dynamical perspective, aiming to answer the scientific puzzle of planetary system origins and guide spacecraft design and mission planning. Representative Work: Revealing the YORP spin-up formation of top-shaped asteroids, discovering that Earth's quasi-satellite may originate from the Moon's GB impact crater, and contributing to China's Tianwen-2 and asteroid impact deflection missions.
2. Extraterrestrial Robot Design and Control: overcome or even utilize the extreme and unique environments of extraterrestrial bodies, designing novel anchoring, climbing, and mobile robots, and developing intelligent autonomous control algorithms. Representative Work: Proposing a hopping mobility exploration scheme using weak gravity environments and introducing a root-sheath-like plant-inspired anchoring device suitable for loose rubble pile structures.
3. Extraterrestrial Resource Extraction Mechanics: Investigating the mechanical properties and movement laws of resource extraction under composite natural/artificial force fields for typical scenarios such as water ice extraction and metal smelting. Representative Work: Proposing a microwave ice extraction scheme for lunar polar regions and conducting experimental and numerical simulations to validate it.
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Academic Achievement
Recent Representative Papers:
1. Jiao, Yifei; Cheng, Bin*; Huang, Yukun; Asphaug, Erik; Gladman, Brett; Malhotra, Renu; Michel, Patrick; Yu, Yang; Baoyin, Hexi*; Asteroid Kamo‘oalewa’s journey from the lunar Giordano Bruno crater to Earth 1:1 resonance, Nature Astronomy, 2024, 8(7): 819-826
2. Cheng, Bin; Yu, Yang*; Asphaug, Erik; Michel, Patrick; Richardson, Derek C.; Hirabayashi, Masatoshi; Yoshikawa, Makoto; Baoyin, Hexi*; Reconstructing the formation history of top-shaped asteroids from the surface boulder distribution, Nature Astronomy, 2021, 5(2): 134-138
3. Cheng, Bin*; Baoyin, Hexi ; Structural stability of China’s asteroid mission target 2016 HO3 and its possible structure, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2024, 534(2): 1376-1393
4. Wang, Qiujun; Cheng, Bin*; Baoyin, Hexi; Piao, Ying ; LBM-DEM modeling of particle-fluid interactions on active small solar bodies, Astronomy Astrophysics, 2024, 691: A265
5. Jiao, Yifei; Cheng, Bin*; Baoyin, Hexi*; Optimal Kinetic-Impact Geometry for Asteroid Deflection Exploiting Delta-V Hodograph, Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2023, 46(2): 382-389
