Just for fun - 30 minutes of probe data |
Just for fun - 30 minutes of probe data |
Nov 9 2009, 10:01 PM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 107 Joined: 29-January 09 Member No.: 4589 |
Suppose you could have 30 minutes worth of robotic probe data from any object in the Solar System (either in orbit around it or from the surface). The technology used should not be significantly advanced from that in use today (no tachyon scanners). What target would you choose, and why?
I think my choice would have to be a mini-submarine in the sunless seas on Europa equipped with a video camera (and a suitably strong source of light), a hydrophone and a mass spectrometer. Imagine hearing the creak of the ice, catching a glimpse of something unexpected on the camera and MS data of unusually complex organic molecules. Well I can dream, right? -------------------- Protein structures and Mars fun - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nick960/
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Nov 9 2009, 10:41 PM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 |
Europa would be my first choice, too. Getting anything below that ice would be one of the most difficult feats ever so those 30 mins would not go to waste
My 2nd choice would be a probe on the shore of one of Titan's lakes. Probably would be the single most alien scene in the entire solar system. -------------------- |
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Nov 9 2009, 10:56 PM
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#3
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Europa ocean as well for me
Take the Beagle 2 mini mass-spec, and Pancam . And floodlights. |
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Nov 9 2009, 11:13 PM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
My vote would be for a surface image and chemical analysis of the Equatorial Bright terrain on Titan a la Phoenix on Mars.
Is it deposit covered, is it raw bedrock? Is there a surface coating? Is it uniform or are there runnels everywhere? Can a drill reveal fresher surface material? Images of the terrain before and after drilling would be key. With only 30 minutes, you'd drill blind and image after, placing both samples into the respective ovens. An initial GC run of methane added to both samples stuff would give the initial background. A quick thaw in an oven to melt the ice and into the GCMS would narrow the guesses to the surface constituents*. (Or at least help constrain them). *after the surface materials have been exposed to non-native aqueous conditions at elevated temperatures and then subjected to vaporization, ionization and further heating. [This mission would be complementary to a Titan lake mission - here you'd get the background rock, and the insoluble surface coating. The lake lander will give information on the soluble chemical species.] -------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Nov 9 2009, 11:13 PM
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#5
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
For sheer spectacle I'd sit on well placed rim overlooking one of Io's volcanoes. For information I'd go to a Titan lake. I'll pass on the big dark underwater non-event.
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Nov 9 2009, 11:54 PM
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#6
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Member Group: Members Posts: 107 Joined: 29-January 09 Member No.: 4589 |
My 2nd choice would be a probe on the shore of one of Titan's lakes. Probably would be the single most alien scene in the entire solar system. For pretty picture value alone I'd go for Charon hanging in the sky over the frozen wastes of a Plutonian landscape. -------------------- Protein structures and Mars fun - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nick960/
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Nov 9 2009, 11:57 PM
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#7
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Member Group: Members Posts: 194 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 10 |
I would place a probe with a TV camera near a Martian polar 'geyser' and capture 30 FPS video when it is active.
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Nov 10 2009, 12:37 AM
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#8
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Member Group: Members Posts: 236 Joined: 5-June 08 From: Udon Thani Member No.: 4185 |
The shore of one of the lakes on Titan, overlooking the beach and the lake, as has been mentioned already that must be something to behold!
Second choice would be somewhere within a safe distance of a volcano on Io. |
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Nov 10 2009, 12:59 AM
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#9
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
I think a powerful multispectral imager from the surface of Nix while the other three bodies are all overhead.
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Guest_Sunspot_* |
Nov 10 2009, 08:31 AM
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#10
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Guests |
Would a lake front spot on Titan really look dramatically different to a scene from Earth?
I think I would go for a volcano on Io or maybe the view from the top or bottom of here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verona_Rupes |
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Nov 10 2009, 03:45 PM
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#11
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Member Group: Members Posts: 796 Joined: 27-February 08 From: Heart of Europe Member No.: 4057 |
So much interesting objects in our Solar system! Lander on top of Tohil Mons and wonderfull look down to Radegast Patera.
Or lander near Triton geyser. Or something crazy, like rafting in Titan river. But in the end, Europa is the winner. -------------------- |
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Nov 10 2009, 04:40 PM
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#12
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
Solar system you said. Is Earth eligible?
Europa also first for me IF we can get to the ocean first A 30 minutes pose near a vent on a comet will be nice too. Anyway any volcano on IO would give the best scenari -------------------- |
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Nov 10 2009, 10:29 PM
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#13
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Member Group: Members Posts: 646 Joined: 23-December 05 From: Forest of Dean Member No.: 617 |
...(either in orbit around it or from the surface). Thirty minutes of data from a flagship mission on a close Europa flyby. In situ on Europa you'd run the risk of seeing either very cold featureless cloudy water, or an extreme close-up of one of many different types of icy terrain. I'd trade wider coverage for lower resolution. -------------------- --
Viva software libre! |
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Nov 10 2009, 10:46 PM
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#14
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
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Nov 10 2009, 11:19 PM
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#15
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Member Group: Members Posts: 114 Joined: 6-November 05 From: So. Maryland, USA Member No.: 544 |
In addition to all the other great places, especially Triton's polar geysers, I'd put a camera on Iapetus at one of the bright/dark boundaries at the warmest part of the day to see if the sublimation/darkening process is actually visible.
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