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 24 2007, 05:09 PM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
It seems to me that one way to get control would be to design a system that could provide more deceleration than you need, with the ability to cut the ballute loose when the desired delta-v has been achieved. If need be, the delta-v could be measured by doppler shift of a signal with known frequency (eg, from Earth). Cutting the cord to the ballute would instantly end the "manuever", and it would probably fall to the surface. The nice thing is, you don't have to do any prior sensing or modeling of Triton's atmosphere. The deceleration itself is what you measure, eliminating the "middleman" analysis.
Begs for a small Ranger-style package to make the trip to Triton's surface (maybe surviving with the ballute as a parachute?) while the Neptune Orbiter zipped away, perhaps acting as a relay. |
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