New Horizons Jupiter Encounter Options

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

I thought I'd start a new thread for this:

Jupiter Encounter Begins
January 10, 2007

[Rakhir]

Just 3 HB to launch 1kg to LEO (or 10 to GTO) ?

[Bob Shaw]

I hope no teenagers (AKA 'The Great Unwashed') have been reading the Hot Bath observations; they can now point out that sitting slumped in front of the TV (unwashed) for a fortnight is as green as having only one bath. I forsee major domestic issues here...


Bob Shaw

[AndyG]

Don't worry, Bob. It's also a quality of life indicator. My figures suggest that the US energy use for 1999 (the last year I could reliably get in a few minutes' googlin') equates to 1 HB per capita every twenty minutes.

And yes, Rakhir, that is the energy to orbit. Not much. Just "difficult".

Andy

[dvandorn]

And yes, Rakhir, that is the energy to orbit. Not much. Just "difficult".

Yep -- while the energy costs to get "up the hill" are high, they're not much higher, relatively, than a lot of other things. For example, I've seen numbers that say a fully-fueled 747 has enough energy available, in its fuel tanks, to put the plane into orbit. It takes that much energy to fly a 747 halfway across the globe. But in flying at airliner speeds, the 747 releases the total energy much more slowly than needed to accelerate to orbital velocity.

If you could expend all of the energy in a 747's tanks in about six or seven minutes, you could, indeed, put it into orbit... (shades of Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers!)

-the other Doug

[tty]

If you could expend all of the energy in a 747's tanks in about six or seven minutes, you could, indeed, put it into orbit... (shades of Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers!)

Unfortunately there are other complications. A 747 doesn't have to take oxidant along and it's engines need only function in a narrow speed range (subsonic). If someone would please invent a multicycle engine that can morph from turbofan to ramjet to scramjet to rocket then SSTO (and back) wouldn't be too difficult.

tty

[ElkGroveDan]

If someone would please invent a multicycle engine that can morph from turbofan to ramjet to scramjet to rocket then SSTO (and back)

Well I'm real busy with the concrete walk and back patio these days, but I promise I'll have a look as soon as I'm done (probably May if we don't have too much rain this winter) ....unless of course Doug finishes the UMSF shed first, then maybe he'll have time.