How infeasible is a Kuiper Belt equivalent of Dawn |
How infeasible is a Kuiper Belt equivalent of Dawn |
Nov 25 2008, 01:41 PM
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#1
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 22 Joined: 3-January 07 Member No.: 1551 |
I presume that it is completely infeasible without a very powerful nuclear reactor and many years' production of ion engines to do anything remotely like Dawn in the Kuiper belt - the distances are just too long.
Is it in fact feasible with current technology even to get a probe into orbit around Haumea or Makemake? I'd suspect not, that the speed you need to get it out to the Kuiper belt in a lifetime is much too great to cancel down to orbital velocity. |
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Feb 22 2010, 11:36 AM
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
New Horizons is expected to reach, and be fully functional at, one or more KBO's after it's Pluto flyby.
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Feb 22 2010, 01:03 PM
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#3
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 21-February 10 Member No.: 5226 |
New Horizons is expected to reach, and be fully functional at, one or more KBO's after it's Pluto flyby. yes, i know, but the topic is about some Dawn-style mission, which involve ion propulsion, not just chemical. RTG of course is able to power a scientific platform, but is fat too unpowered to sustain some electric propulsion (a RTG unit can provide 300-400W, while a ion thruster needs several kW. Using multiple RTG units would result in a too heavy probe). The real problem with nuclear reactors is that today they need a great R&D work. Just some prototipes have actually flown in space (i.e. USSR' topaz). |
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