Nh - The Launch Thread, Godspeed little one |
Nh - The Launch Thread, Godspeed little one |
Jan 16 2006, 03:08 PM
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
I thought it was time, with the Atlas V about to roll out - for a new thread for NH for the launch etc.
Someone asked over at the HZ just how NH can go so fast, this was my reply.... QUOTE How do you get a spacecraft to Jupiter in under a year? Easy. Make it very very light, and put it on a very very big rocket. The config of Atlas V rocket being used to launch NH (551 - 5m fairing, 5 solids, and one engine on the Centaur stage ) would typically put 8,670kg into GTO or 20,520 into LEO. New Horizons is 478kg, and it's Star 48B 3rd stage is 2,137kg - so instead of hauling 20 tons, this vehicle is hauling about 2.5 tons thus you get a HUGE velocity out of it. AND, once it's done that, you have the final kick of the 48B, 591 thousand kgs-s (thus accelerating is all a further 3.5 - 4km/s ball park speed, if my maths is right) At launch - the vehicle is 573,160kg. NH is 0.083% of it. Imagine the Apollo entry capsule on top of a Saturn V...tiny tiny tiny... that was 5,800 kg on a 3,038,500kg rocket - 0.191% - more than double that percentage of NH. The cutaway's are almost comical, with this tiny gold-clad box on an enormous vehicle. Basically - it's a LOT of rocket, and not a lot of payload. For comparison, look how much fuss was made of Stardust that entered so quickly. It took >16 hrs to get from the distance of the moon to Utah. NH makes that journey in 9 hours One thing the NH mission is not short of, is superlatives. I'm not one for good luck charms (although I'll eat peanuts during a Martian EDL with the best of them), but this mission has been so long in coming, that it deserves every ounce of luck it can have - the best, most accurate launch possible, the cleanest checkout, and incident free cruise to Jupiter. Goodluck and Godspeed little one, we're with you every step of the way. Doug PS - Alan, you're a credit to your field, spending so much time answering questions and writing the PI Perspectives, it's been a hell of a journey! |
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Jan 17 2006, 03:00 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 86 Joined: 12-October 05 From: Beijing Member No.: 526 |
Who knows any NASA TV mirrors, I can only get 34Kbps live real streaming and the Yahoo! mirror doesn't work on my Mac.
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Jan 17 2006, 03:12 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
QUOTE (yaohua2000 @ Jan 17 2006, 04:00 PM) Who knows any NASA TV mirrors, I can only get 34Kbps live real streaming and the Yahoo! mirror doesn't work on my Mac. Check to see if your connection speed is set correctly in Real Player. It's been a while since I've used RP, but there ought to be a setting on whether you're broadband or 56k dialup. The latter won't give you more than 48 kbps, imho, even if your connection is capable. Speaking of live streams, is there a way to record the feed to your computer on the fly? I've had success with on-demand webcasts, but no luck with live feeds. I'd really like a copy of the launch webcast as I don't want to depend on the NH site posting an archived and shortened launch feed... -------------------- |
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