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Topic: Mission to Uranus  (Read 1787 times)

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Offline Enthalpy

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Mission to Uranus
« on: April 19, 2022, 05:42:40 PM »
Hi everyone and everybody!

The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) recommends that Nasa explores Uranus
  Bbc - Nas
The mission to Uranus would take 13 years travel if starting in a narrow time window for gravitational assistance by Jupiter, Neptune is excluded, and surely the mass is limited. Old flame propulsion is so disappointing.

The solution is my sunheat engine. Sistercraft need no Jupiter flyby, they reach Uranus orbit in 6 years, Neptune in 10 years, with 770kg [corrected to 2t in the Jan 30, 2016 message] in orbit there.
  Missions to Uranus and Neptune
I described the engine there (and following messages)
  Sunheat engine

The sunheat engine finally brings the performance needed to hop within our solar system. We need it for many missions, planned or undreamed of. Develop it now?
« Last Edit: April 19, 2022, 05:56:00 PM by Enthalpy »

Offline Enthalpy

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Re: Mission to Uranus
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2022, 08:23:16 AM »
The same Nas report recommends a Nasa mission to Enceladus, Saturn's icy moon
  Ntv.de - Nas
as it probably has a warm subsurface ocean where life might exist.

Alas, old-fashioned flame propulsion lets launch windows begin in 2037, supposedly for Jupiter's gravitational assistance. The trip adds over 5 years. Hey, not everyone is young and patient!

The sunheat engine improves that radically. I didn't check a mission optimized for Enceladus, but a mission to all equatorial moons of Saturn arrives at Enceladus (spelled "Encelade") with 1203kg
  scienceforums and previous message
As the mission uses no flyby at Jupiter, my script can launch at any year.

The script for Earth escape improved on Jul 27, 2014. Launching with an Atlas V plus sunheat, flame and sunheat propulsion puts 7031kg in 5+ years transit to Saturn while the older script wanted a Delta IV heavy to send 4944kg in transit. Scaling by 7031/4944, the cheaper Atlas V puts a 1711kg craft in Enceladus orbit, or 2091kg if affording a Delta IV heavy or a Falcon 9 heavy. Gravitational assistance from Venus, Earth, maybe Titan, would improve the mass further at limited delay. Targeting only Enceladus must save some mass too.

Beyond the spared time, the comfortable mass lets imagine a more ambitious mission. For instance, a dozen landers making a deep portrait of Enceladus by seismology, passive and active. A heavier radar is more capable too. The solar concentrators can also power a hydrogen gun and a sunlight-pumped laser to analyse Enceladus' surface from the orbit, a sunlight-pumped laser for data transmissions, better solar panels, and serve as big antennas.

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