Aerobraking at Triton |
Aerobraking at Triton |
Jan 15 2007, 02:01 PM
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#1
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Flying on Triton is no problem; you just need a chopper with blades a couple of kilometers long...
(Semi)seriously, would anything we think of as atmospheric flight work at all on Triton? I doubt that even a balloon "filled" with several cubic km of lab-quality vacuum would generate enough lift to get itself off the surface, much less a useful payload. Mars by comparison is a veritable pressure cooker. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Jan 15 2007, 07:54 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 688 Joined: 20-April 05 From: Sweden Member No.: 273 |
(Semi)seriously, would anything we think of as atmospheric flight work at all on Triton? I doubt that even a balloon "filled" with several cubic km of lab-quality vacuum would generate enough lift to get itself off the surface, much less a useful payload. Mars by comparison is a veritable pressure cooker. The question is, would the atmosphere be dense enough for aerobraking? If so an aerobraking orbit with a peritritonium a couple of kilometers above the surface would presumably permit obtaining some fairly dramatic realtime video footage. In theory you should be able to come right down to daisycutter altitude, but the uncertainties of the local gravity field and relief would require some margin. It might also be a good idea to avoid geyser plumes. Hypersonic snowflakes can be nasty. tty |
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Jan 16 2007, 07:37 AM
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#3
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Dublin Correspondent Group: Admin Posts: 1799 Joined: 28-March 05 From: Celbridge, Ireland Member No.: 220 |
The question is, would the atmosphere be dense enough for aerobraking? Although there is plenty of drag available at approach velocities (~20km/sec) that might be useful initially the terminal velocity in that atmosphere would be very high - somewhere between 2 and 10km/sec depending on the coefficient of drag of your orbiter. I think that means that you definitely need to have a powered deceleration capability as Triton escape velocity is only 1;5km/sec. |
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