Neptune Orbiter, Another proposed mission |
Neptune Orbiter, Another proposed mission |
Nov 10 2005, 03:51 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 509 Joined: 2-July 05 From: Calgary, Alberta Member No.: 426 |
This seems like a good place to start off the Uranus and Neptune forum: with the next ice-giants mission.
I will admit to not knowing a whole lot about the Neptune Orbiter With Probes (NOWP), other than the fact that it's in the planning stages, and a few other details I've gathered from Wikipedia and various other Internet sources. Anyone care to get this one going with a bit more information? |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Nov 27 2005, 02:43 AM
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Guests |
That's the nuclear-electric version of Neptune Orbiter, back when Sean O'Keefe's nuclear behemoth was still among NASA's official plans. It will, I think, be a long time before we see it -- not just because of the huge cost and environmental problems, but also because it turns out to significantly PROLONG the travel times of many spacecraft into the outer System, although it does allow a huge amount of cruising around from one moon to the next after you get there.
But the concepts for the Neptune entry probes and the possible Triton lander do still look just the way they're shown in that picture. As for the new "aerocaptured" Neptune Orbiter concept -- the one which is now overwhelmingly most likely to fly first -- you can see it still folded up behind its aerocapture heat shield on page 9 of http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/jun_05_meetin...eptune_API1.pdf . I can't find a picture of the Orbiter after it's been released from that shield and unfolded in Neptune orbit, but clearly it will look radically different from Galileo and Cassini -- and clearly it requires an unfolding high-gain dish. (Note how much it initially looks like the classic SF magazine-cover spaceship!) |
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