A New Horizons Clone To 2003 Ub313? |
A New Horizons Clone To 2003 Ub313? |
Dec 22 2005, 01:07 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
Pluto's current distance from the Sun: ~31AU
2003 UB313's current distance from the Sun ~97AU Is an all chemical (no electric propulsion, solar sails, etc) mission to 2003 UB313 possible? I'm thinking of a travel time and spacecraft mass similar to New Horizons. Perhaps NASA's new Shuttle derived launch vehicle (payload capacity 125 metric tonnes to LEO) will be up to the task and could do this on a test flight. |
|
|
Dec 22 2005, 01:45 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
A quick and dirty calculation shows that even with a heliocentric average speed of 20 km/s you'd need over 20 years to reach that distance.
That's comparable to the Voyager 1 spacecraft, currently at 97 AU from the sun and it took 2 gravity assists and over 25 years to reach that distance. And it's the fastest escaping probe out there. I doubt anyone would ever launch a mission that would have to wait more than 20 years before any scientific return would be made. IMHO, chemical propulsion is totally out of the picture, nuclear powered ion propulsion or perhaps efficient solar sails would be possible alternatives. EDIT: A very large cryogenic upper stage might do the job, but really, lifting a hundred tons of propellant into low earth orbit just to kick-start a few hundred kilograms on a very fast trajectory seems like a huge waste of resources. Not to mention that the faster you launch the probe, the faster you whizz by the target (in a matter of few minutes). Ideally, you'd want to slow down (possibly even braking into orbit) to have more time to get the highest resolution measurements available, again fission powered ion engines seem like the only alternative. -------------------- |
|
|
Dec 22 2005, 02:51 PM
Post
#3
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
QUOTE (ugordan @ Dec 22 2005, 05:45 AM) A quick and dirty calculation shows that even with a heliocentric average speed of 20 km/s you'd need over 20 years to reach that distance. That's comparable to the Voyager 1 spacecraft, currently at 97 AU from the sun and it took 2 gravity assists and over 25 years to reach that distance. And it's the fastest escaping probe out there. Are all gravity assists made equal? I'm sure they're not. The Voyager path was chosen to hit the needed planets, not for superspeed. It's another matter how fast a spacecraft would go if it were intended to get maximum heliocentric speed and Jupiter-Saturn gravity assists were timed accordingly. I doubt that the Voyagers hit those marks, and the difference could be considerable. Someone capable of simulating that? |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 30th April 2024 - 07:45 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |