Uranus Orbiter, The other proposed ice-giant mission |
Uranus Orbiter, The other proposed ice-giant mission |
Nov 11 2005, 05:13 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 509 Joined: 2-July 05 From: Calgary, Alberta Member No.: 426 |
Since the Neptune Orbiter thread has started to veer into talking about a Uranus orbiter as well, it seemed like a good idea to start a topic for Uranus.
|
|
|
Sep 25 2007, 07:45 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 |
Perhaps slightly off-topic, but there have been serious discussions recently about putting an interferometric telescope array in orbit which could resolve (2+ pixels) earth-sized planets about other stars. A quick back of the envelope calculation assuming an earth-sized planet 6 light years away corresponds to a resolution of 1 kilometer at the distance of neptune. Increase this by a factor of 10-100 and we're getting distinctly competitive with what spacecraft can do, without needing to venture much beyond earth orbit. Just playing devil's advocate here Still, the polar regions would still be troublesome, and this would never compete with a rover on the ground or a dedicated orbiter.
|
|
|
Sep 25 2007, 09:08 PM
Post
#3
|
|
Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4405 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
Perhaps slightly off-topic, but there have been serious discussions recently about putting an interferometric telescope array in orbit which could resolve (2+ pixels) earth-sized planets about other stars. A quick back of the envelope calculation assuming an earth-sized planet 6 light years away corresponds to a resolution of 1 kilometer at the distance of neptune. Increase this by a factor of 10-100 and we're getting distinctly competitive with what spacecraft can do, without needing to venture much beyond earth orbit. Just playing devil's advocate here Still, the polar regions would still be troublesome, and this would never compete with a rover on the ground or a dedicated orbiter. Ignoring the technical difficulties (such as that orbital motion and parallax would become HUGE problems at such high resolutions), there is also the problem of the fact that we see the outer planets at full or nearly full phases - high and moderate phase observations are impossible, so topographic mapping would be difficult. Also, building and operating an array with such imaging and tracking capabilities in orbit would cost a lot more than some orbiters and landers. -------------------- |
|
|
Sep 26 2007, 12:37 PM
Post
#4
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 |
...technical difficulties..., ...we see the outer planets at full or nearly full phases - high and moderate phase observations are impossible, so topographic mapping would be difficult. Also...would cost a lot more than some orbiters and landers. I believe the notion was to place it in one of the earth-sun Lagrange points, rather than earth orbit, minimizing the problems of orbital motion. As to cost, I would guess several billion dollars. Definitely more expensive than sending a dedicated orbiter or lander, but far cheaper than sending orbiters and landers to every possible target in the solar system. I agree that the limited view & phase angles would be problematic for lot's of things, plus particles & fields would be out of luck. I'm just throwing the idea out there as a broad but imperfect solution which would in many ways be equivalent to sending flyby missions all over the solar system, not to mention the opportunity to do comparative planetology, since if you can resolve earth-sized bodies around other stars consider what you could do with the gas giants there. |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 31st October 2024 - 11:36 PM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |