Note to Aerospace Journalists: Star Trek Analogies Make You Look Like a Wanker
- From: Matthew G. Saroff <msaroff@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:45:32 -0400
Original post, along with a silly picture at:
http://fourtyyears.blogspot.com/2007/07/note-to-aerospace-journalists-star-trek.html
This is a significant development. It could lead to an explosion
of planetary probes, and perhaps a meaningful space tug for
transfer from LEO or GTO to GEO.
That being said the fact that the phony Next Generation
Enterprise and ion drives both glow blue is not a reason to make
stupid analogies that turn the stomach.
Interesting story. Lousy writing.
Dawn Spacecraft Ready To Turn Science Fiction into Reality
(Subscription Required)
Aviation Week & Space Technology
07/02/2007, page 56
Craig Covault
Cape Canaveral
Dawn ready to turn science fiction into reality on mission
to orbit two infant planets
Printed headline: Blue Light Special
In the classic television series Star Trek, the Starship
Enterprise speeds around the galaxy on blue light
propulsion beams, then maneuvers into orbit around many
different worlds before zooming off again to do more
exploration.
Such science fiction becomes fact here as the $446-million
NASA Dawn mission is readied for liftoff on an eight-year,
3-billion-mi. journey to the protoplanets Vesta and Ceres
(see cover).
Powered by glowing blue beams from its own revolutionary
solar electric ion propulsion system (IPS), Dawn is to fly
to, then orbit, these two separate bodies hundreds of
millions of miles apart. Only science fiction spacecraft
have done such things before; Star Trek's Enterprise did it
using antimatter propulsion.
With 935 lb. of xenon fuel, the 2,696-lb. Dawn spacecraft
has far more propulsion capability than any previous real
spacecraft.
Dawn's solar electric propulsion system has the ability to
accelerate the spacecraft by nearly 7 mi. per sec. over the
course of its mission. This is as much velocity change in
deep space as it will receive from its entire Delta launch
vehicle to reach space, then depart Earth orbit.
Like Star Trek come true, the NASA Dawn spacecraft and its
Dutch Space solar arrays spanning nearly 65 ft. (left) will
accelerate by about 7 mi. per sec. on blue beams of ion
propulsion to orbit two different bodies.
"That is huge for a planetary mission, it is really
incredible velocity capability," says Mike Mook, the Dawn
Orbital Sciences project manager.
A conventional interplanetary spacecraft may burn roughly
660 lb. of propellants during a total of 20 min. of
operation in an entire mission, achieving a velocity change
of perhaps 3,300 fps. This compares with Dawn's far greater
solar electric capability to increase velocity-to nearly 7
mi. per sec.-over its longer mission life.
...
.
- Prev by Date: Re: Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence
- Next by Date: Re: Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence
- Previous by thread: Space Vulture
- Next by thread: Dealing with Lulu.com
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
