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I am looking for the quickest way to get to Jupiter. Assume that there are people actually going there. And another assumption is that the space ship will be built in orbit, so they might have a lot more fuel than from a normal Earth launch. I am looking for ideas and also for resources for this kind of assist. I am looking for something shorter than the VEEGA or the VVEJGA since they are too slow and are more concerned about saving fuel. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!

2006-11-10 22:17:29 · 4 answers · asked by Anthony G 2 in Science & Mathematics Astronomy & Space

4 answers

An ion engine will get you there the fastest. You get the biggest delta-vee per kg of exhaust.

Problem is, in general you only get one encounter with a specific planet once each solar orbit, and you can only get a kick so large each time. I suppose you can hypothesize a super convenient planetary alignment that could shave off some time, but you might spend a long time waiting for that particular configuration. A lot of really smart people spent a lot of time developing the computational tools to come up with the VEEGA and VVEJGA options. I doubt the population here is going to come up with anything a lot better.

You can read more about the DS1 ion propulsion experimental system here:
http://nmp.nasa.gov/ds1/tech/ionpropfaq.html

The first science mission using ion propulsion is the Pluto bound New Horizons. Thanks to this tech, it will reach pluto in 10 short years and reaches Jupiter for a gravity assist in only 1 year.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/mission_timeline.html

2006-11-12 11:36:18 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. Quark 5 · 0 0

Why would you want to go to Jupiter when you cannot land there? It is a gas giant with no definite surface. In order for a space craft to get there quicker it could be slungshot around the Sun, using the Sun's gravity to speed it up.

2006-11-11 23:01:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

According to the laws of probability, if you jump a sufficient number of times, you will eventually succeed.

2006-11-11 21:34:52 · answer #3 · answered by Scarp 3 · 0 0

Because of the awesome power of gravity, if you can place yourself in the correct spot around the planet, you will orbit around it and get a little boost using the planet's own gravity. Too sharp of an angle towards the planet, you will burn up in the atmosphere, simple as that. Either that, or it will take more fuel to get out of orbit than it would to just move past it. If you hit it at too wide of an angle, you may miss it completely. Here is more information on gravity assists.
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From http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/gravity-assist-primer.cfm:

The "gravity assist" concept has proven to be a fundamental technique to help in exploring our "back yard" -- the solar system. The technique has also been employed to rescue an Earth-orbiting communication satellite whose launch vehicle failed to place it in its intended orbit.

A Little History:

Several robotic spacecraft have taken advantage of the "gravity assist" technique to reach their targets of exploration in distant areas of the solar system. For example, Voyager 2 launched in August 1977 and flew by Jupiter, using "gravity assist" for a trajectory boost to Saturn. Voyager 1 launched the following month and did the same (reaching Jupiter before Voyager 2 did). Voyager 2 then obtained an assist from Saturn and another one later from Uranus, climbing all the way to Neptune and beyond. Galileo used "gravity assist" to get one boost from Venus and two from Earth, while orbiting the Sun en route to Jupiter, its final destination. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft took two "assists" from Venus, one from Earth, and another from Jupiter to gain enough momentum to reach Saturn.

The "gravity assist" flyby technique can add or subtract momentum to increase or decrease the energy of a spacecraft's orbit. Generally it has been used in solar orbit, to increase a spacecraft's speed and propel it outward in the solar system, much farther away from the Sun than its launch vehicle would have been capable of doing. A flyby can also decrease a spacecraft's orbital momentum, such as in the case of Galileo, where the spacecraft used a "gravity assist" flyby in front of Jupiter's largest moon, Io. In this way, it was possible for Galileo to decrease its energy and mass of rocket propellant needed to insert into Jupiter's orbit. Comets and other bodies in solar orbit naturally experience orbital changes as they happen to pass close by to a planet or moon.

The two Voyager spacecraft provide a classic example of utilizing gravity assist flybys to reach their destinations. They were launched aboard a Titan-III/Centaur, with destinations of Saturn and beyond. But their launch vehicles could provide only enough energy to get them to Jupiter (halfway out to Saturn). Had Jupiter not been present, and had the two spacecraft not encountered the giant gas planet, they would have remained in solar orbit indefinitely, farthest from the sun (known as aphelion) of Jupiter's orbital distance (5 AU or 750,000,000 km). Conversely, the spacecraft would have been closest to the sun (known as perihelion) at Earth's orbital distance (1 AU or 150,000,000 km).

The two Voyager launch times were planned so that Jupiter would coast by at just the right time. Therefore, they were influenced by Jupiter's gravitational pull and began falling toward it. Fortunately, their speeds were controlled by careful positioning of how close they came to Jupiter's orbit without impacting the planet. As the two Voyager spacecraft climbed "up" away from Jupiter, they slowed down again with respect to the gas giant, eventually reaching the same speed they had on their way in.

For more visit: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/gravity-assist-primer.cfm
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I hope I helped!

2006-11-11 06:26:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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