Cubesats for Solar System Exploration Options

[vjkane]

[ADMIN NOTE: New topic started using moved posts from Pallas telescopic observation topic. Please read and keep rule 1.9 in mind. Thanks!]


I was hoping that NASA would select the Athena mission to do a flyby of Pallas using a cubesat spacecraft under the SIMPLEx program. It selected the Janus mission to flyby two near Earth asteroid binary systems instead. The Athena team plans to submit again.

[nprev]

ADMIN HAT ON: Alright. This thread was created from posts that veered wildly off-topic in a previous thread. It has now veered wildly off-topic from what seemed to be the topic it veered into. In fact, it has now essentially turned into a debate between two members about orbital mechanics.

If this persists the thread will be closed and archived.

[HSchirmer]

ADMIN HAT ON: Alright. This thread was created from posts that veered wildly off-topic in a previous thread. It has now veered wildly off-topic from what seemed to be the topic it veered into. In fact, it has now essentially turned into a debate between two members about orbital mechanics.

If this persists the thread will be closed and archived.

Understood; and fair point, a polite discussion which has a run of 4 post by 2 members isn't unusual.
We're just starting to see cubesats for exploration, asking whether the delta-V is better spent by waiting to launch when you have an outward synodic alignment, or launching inward sooner and trying to make up the difference by an Oberth burn is, well, a cool and geeky question. The way that orbital mechanics was figured out was by people debating cool and geeky questions.

The first question I'm trying to get a handle on is that, while the Oberth effect is largest when "falling towards the object at rest from infinity" what percentage of this would be available when falling "from rest" at a L1 or L2 Lagrange point?

The second question whether the 28 day rotation of the Earth-Moon L1 & L2 points could be useful for sending the cubesats on their initial course via an Earth Oberth effect burn. See "The Lagrangian points of the real Earth-Moon system" https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28...rth-Moon_system

Won't know until you try, or at least try to think it through.

https://xkcd.com/