June 12 2007 Icy Moons (rev 46) |
June 12 2007 Icy Moons (rev 46) |
Jun 6 2007, 07:35 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1887 Joined: 20-November 04 From: Iowa Member No.: 110 |
Rev 46 description available at CICLOPS
http://ciclops.org/view.php?id=3245 Some highlights: Cassini will observe Mimas, the innermost of the mid-sized icy satellites of Saturn June 12, Cassini makes one of its closest passes of the small, inner satellite Atlas, at a distance of only 38,000 km (24,000 mi). With an average diameter of only 31 km (19 mi), Atlas is one of the smallest moons of Saturn. Atlas will only appear to be 120 pixels across (at the equator). However, these images may still provide important clues about the formation of one of the most distinguishing aspects of the tiny satellite: its equatorial bulge. The bulge is thought to have been created by material from Saturn’s A ring being deposited preferentially along the equator of the satellite. A number of observations are dedicated to observing some of Saturn's small moons, in order to refine scientists' estimates of their orbital paths. These sequences include observations of some of Saturn's outer satellites, such as Paaliaq, Hati, and S/2004 S13 I've seen a few of these small outer moons listed recently on the raw image page. They search tool only shows them from the last few orbits. Is this something new they are doing or have they been previously listed as Sky? |
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Jun 14 2007, 07:15 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
I dunno -- it seems to me that to move across the surface of a small body which has such little mass that it's truly what I would call a microgravity environment, you can't rely on the possibility that you will encounter a natural handhold when you need to slow down, stop, or change directions. Grab hold of a rock sitting on the surface, and you're not going to stop yourself, you're going to pull the rock off of the body and bring it with you.
I think you'd have to somehow implant anchoring stakes on such a surface and string lines between the stakes. The stakes would have to be driven deeply enough to be able to stay anchored as the mass of your body, plus your environment suit, pulls at them with the force of your momentum. So it looks like small bodies may have to be "prepared" for human exploration before anyone can actually touch them and maneuver around on them. This wouldn't just apply to small icy bodies like Atlas, but to most small bodies like asteroids and comets. You'd have to pre-emplace anchors and lines in order to safely move around the surfaces of such bodies. Otherwise, you'd either fly right off (though I imagine you'd be tethered to your ship) or you wouldn't be able to easily maneuver to the location on the surface you want to visit. Your other option, of course, would be to use something like the AMU, a self-contained, RCS-controlled backpack that would move you along the surface and automatically adjust for the tiny pull of the body you're studying. It would be more like flying along, facing an icy or rocky wall, than "walking" on the body. -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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