Titan + Enceladus = Goose bumps, Tomorrow is just ahead! |
Titan + Enceladus = Goose bumps, Tomorrow is just ahead! |
Mar 12 2007, 03:22 PM
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Special Cookie Group: Members Posts: 2168 Joined: 6-April 05 From: Sintra | Portugal Member No.: 228 |
I thought about a new thread since there are possibilities of an incredible future mission.
The idea is to know what would people like to see on a mission like that, nature of probes, instruments, experiments...you name it! -------------------- "Ride, boldly ride," The shade replied, "If you seek for Eldorado!"
Edgar Alan Poe |
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Mar 15 2007, 08:39 PM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
In order to deliver a box into Titan orbit or onto it's surface/lower atmosphere, could you perform two aerobraking/aerocapture maneuvers? (This was proposed by Zvezdichko for Jupiter orbit in the Jupiter forum and seems interesting for Titan) A potential scheme is shown below.
Advantages might be to be able to launch directly and often from Earth orbit (a la New Horizons) or with a gravity assist from Jupiter (in which case timing becomes key). Risk of hitting material in the ring plane would be minimized since the probe would be passing in the atmosphere in this area. Ring material would not in a stable orbit at this low altitude. Another advantage would be that minimal thrust would be needed for orbital insertion (either Saturn or Titan), one would use the atmospheres of both for slowing the box down. (The atmospheres should be pretty well-studied from analysis of Cassini data) (Please forgive my obvious naivite with orbital mechanics and Powerpoint drawings) -Mike -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Mar 15 2007, 08:57 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
In order to deliver a box into Titan orbit or onto it's surface/lower atmosphere, could you perform two aerobraking/aerocapture maneuvers? (This was proposed by Zvezdichko for Jupiter orbit in the Jupiter forum and seems interesting for Titan) A potential scheme is shown below. Advantages might be to be able to launch directly and often from Earth orbit (a la New Horizons) or with a gravity assist from Jupiter (in which case timing becomes key). I like it -- but the potential for bending the path around Saturn by the needed amount seems wishful. It seems to me that without a lot of chemical engine use, the intersect point with Saturn would be at very high latitudes and bounce it back out while still at high latitudes. In essence, the path needs to bend 270 degrees from cruise to Titan entry, and I'm not sure that the specified plan would do that. A lot of propellant would be required in any case. This situation would be eased if things stayed more in the ring plane so that an arbitrarily lower "bend" would be required. |
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