My Assistant
Icy Satellite Flybys |
| Guest_Sunspot_* |
Nov 13 2004, 09:10 PM
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#1
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Which of Saturn's Icy satellite flybys are you most looking forward too and why?
I can't wait to see Mimas up close, I hope the flyby geometry will give us a good view of the giant crater Herchel.
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Nov 14 2004, 11:42 AM
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#2
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Rover Driver ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1015 Joined: 4-March 04 Member No.: 47 |
Iapetus. with its black-and-white appearance and possible GIGANTIC mountains
http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1386_1.asp |
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| Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Nov 15 2004, 03:00 AM
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#3
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Alas, Sunspot is out of luck -- Mimas is the only one of Saturn's biggest 11 moons for which there is no close flyby (either targeted or untargeted) during Cassini's selected 4-year primary tour. The closest it will come is 45,000 km next Aug. 2. (I imagine a close Mimas flyby will be a prety high priority during any extended mission.)
As for the others, the flybys closer than 30,000 km are as follows: Janus: Untargeted, 6/1/08 -- 13,600 km Epimetheus: Untargeted, 12/3/07 -- 6200 km Enceladus: Untargeted, 2/17/05 -- 1200 km. (A remarkable piece of pure luck.) Targeted, 3/9/05 -- 500 km Targeted, 7/15/05 -- 1000 km Targeted, 3/12/08 -- 1000 km Tethys: Untargeted, 6/27/07 -- 16,200 km Telesto: Untargeted, 10/11/05 -- 10,100 km Untargeted, 12/25/05 -- 18,900 km Dione: Targeted, 10/11/05 -- 500 km Helene: Untargeted, 7/20/07 -- 29,100 km Rhea: Targeted, 11/26/05 -- 500 km Untargeted, 8/30/07 -- 5100 km Hyperion: Targeted, 9/26/05 -- 1000 km Iapetus: Targeted, 9/10/07 -- 1000 km I should also mention the untargeted Iapetus flyby coming up this New Year -- 64,000 km range, but still by far the best look at Iapetus yet. |
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| Guest_Sunspot_* |
Nov 15 2004, 11:35 AM
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#4
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QUOTE (BruceMoomaw @ Nov 15 2004, 03:00 AM) Alas, Sunspot is out of luck -- Mimas is the only one of Saturn's biggest 11 moons for which there is no close flyby (either targeted or untargeted) during Cassini's selected 4-year primary tour. The closest it will come is 45,000 km next Aug. 2. (I imagine a close Mimas flyby will be a prety high priority during any extended mission.) .....oh well, that flyby will still give us considerably better images than what we have now |
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Nov 15 2004, 04:37 PM
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#5
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 154 Joined: 8-June 04 Member No.: 80 |
I can't decide between Iapetus and Enceladus. I am interested to find out if Enceladus has ice volcanoes.
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Nov 15 2004, 06:04 PM
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#6
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Moderator Posts: 3242 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
QUOTE (pioneer @ Nov 15 2004, 09:37 AM) I can't decide between Iapetus and Enceladus. I am interested to find out if Enceladus has ice volcanoes. Obviously from my avatar you know where my heart lies (though I still prefer Io above all), but both Iapetus and Enceladus look really interesting though I think Iapetus will steal the early show. -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Nov 15 2004, 06:30 PM
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#7
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Rover Driver ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1015 Joined: 4-March 04 Member No.: 47 |
Early show? we have to wait till 2007!
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Nov 16 2004, 12:00 AM
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#8
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Moderator Posts: 3242 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
QUOTE (remcook @ Nov 15 2004, 11:30 AM) Early show? we have to wait till 2007! No, you only have to wait till December 30. You won't see super hi-res imaging but global mapping at 600 m/pixel is pretty good in my book -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Nov 16 2004, 12:02 AM
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#9
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Moderator Posts: 3242 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
QUOTE (remcook @ Nov 15 2004, 11:30 AM) Early show? we have to wait till 2007! though if we , I don't know, find active volcanism on Titan (hey, you never know -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Nov 16 2004, 06:00 AM
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#10
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 122 Joined: 26-June 04 From: Austria Member No.: 89 |
My latest info from Mr. Denk (DLR berlin) about the Dec.30 Iapetus is, that the current Cassini trajectory was corrected to ensure that the Huygens probe (in free flight also near Iapetus at this time) takes the right trajectory to Titan. It is some uncertaintity in Iapetus mass, so they decided the Dec.30 flyby distance to take place in 115000 km instead of the proposed 50000 km. The northern hemisphäre of Iapetus would be visible instead of the southern. Also changing the Titan flyby of Dec.13 takes places in 1200km instead of 2200km (a thruster flyby instead of wheels)
regards Robert Schulz Vienna |
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Nov 16 2004, 06:22 PM
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#11
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Moderator Posts: 3242 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
QUOTE (Roby72 @ Nov 15 2004, 11:00 PM) My latest info from Mr. Denk (DLR berlin) about the Dec.30 Iapetus is, that the current Cassini trajectory was corrected to ensure that the Huygens probe (in free flight also near Iapetus at this time) takes the right trajectory to Titan. It is some uncertaintity in Iapetus mass, so they decided the Dec.30 flyby distance to take place in 115000 km instead of the proposed 50000 km. The northern hemisphäre of Iapetus would be visible instead of the southern. Also changing the Titan flyby of Dec.13 takes places in 1200km instead of 2200km (a thruster flyby instead of wheels) regards Robert Schulz Vienna Putting us on thrusters for the Tb flyby pretty much killed our very high resolution observations Despite the change in distance and subspacecraft point for the Iapetus distant encounter, it should yield a lot of useful information on Iapetus. -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Nov 16 2004, 07:36 PM
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#12
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 154 Joined: 8-June 04 Member No.: 80 |
QUOTE Putting us on thrusters for the Tb flyby pretty much killed our very high resolution observations Could this mean more RADAR observations? From what I understand, the camera performs best with reaction wheels while the RADAR instrument does better with thrusters. |
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Nov 16 2004, 08:31 PM
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#13
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Junior Member ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 76 Joined: 26-May 04 Member No.: 77 |
QUOTE (Roby72 @ Nov 16 2004, 06:00 AM) ...Cassini trajectory was corrected to ensure that the Huygens probe (in free flight also near Iapetus at this time) takes the right trajectory to Titan. It is some uncertaintity in Iapetus mass, so they decided the Dec.30 flyby distance to take place in 115000 km instead of the proposed 50000 km.... regards Robert Schulz Vienna Why are they even releasing Huygens before the distant Iapetus flyby? If there is so much uncertainty in Iapetus's mass such that it could adversly affect the path of "free falling Huygens" - doesn't it make more sense to keep Huygens attached until the last possible moment and THEN release it? It seems to me that even the slightest deviation from the planned course could drastically alter Huygen's decent profile. To be sure there is a narrow corridor for entry. Too much off, and poof, there goes the Huygens entry/surface mission. With no way to correct Huygen's path, why take the risk? |
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Nov 16 2004, 10:48 PM
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#14
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Moderator Posts: 3242 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
QUOTE (YesRushGen @ Nov 16 2004, 01:31 PM) Why are they even releasing Huygens before the distant Iapetus flyby? If there is so much uncertainty in Iapetus's mass such that it could adversly affect the path of "free falling Huygens" - doesn't it make more sense to keep Huygens attached until the last possible moment and THEN release it? It seems to me that even the slightest deviation from the planned course could drastically alter Huygen's decent profile. To be sure there is a narrow corridor for entry. Too much off, and poof, there goes the Huygens entry/surface mission. With no way to correct Huygen's path, why take the risk? When Huygens is released, Cassini is essentially on a collision course with Titan, then is steered away with a OTM a few days later. The shorter the time between release and encounter, the longer that burn has to be. The current date is the best compromise between making sure Huygens is put on the correct trajectory and maintaining Cassini's fuel reserve. -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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| Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Nov 16 2004, 11:08 PM
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#15
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To "Pioneer": The Titan-B flyby is one of those that will not utilize radar. About 19 of the 44 Titan flybys, in fact, are currently scheduled to fall into this category. (I don't know why this early flyby was included in that group -- one would think that radar observations are somewhat more urgent early in the mission than later, given the lack of variation in the atmospheric properties of Titan compared to its vast surface variations.)
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