Slingshotting

[lti]

Argh! that is not how orbits work!

 

[TerriO]

Argh! that is not how orbits work!

All right, for the benefit of those reading who might not understand, could you please enlighten us on how orbits work, lti?

 

[Alpha_Geek]

I got yer orbits right here:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/satellite3.htm

Here's the readers digest version:

"At the correct orbital velocity, gravity exactly balances the satellite's inertia, pulling down toward Earth's center just enough to keep the path of the satellite curving like Earth's curved surface, rather than flying off in a straight line."

Want more?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question378.htm

AG

 

[trekkiedane]

Wow, Tachyon Shield is really on Fire in this thread.

 

[Trekker4747]

how about we build a huge net in space and place it in the path of Mars, Mars will hit the net and wrap around Mars, each corner of the net will trail along behind Mars and will be capable of attaching to a ship. A ship will attach itself to Mars and get dragged along at the same speed of Mars orbit around the Sun, when ready the ship will detach and shoot off at 53,858 mph.

....

 

[All Seeing Eye]

....

Why have you just bumped a year old thread? and bumped it with nothing more than an emoticon?
Seeing as I'm not posting threads anymore are you trying revive my old ones?

 

[Hyperspace05]

Could it be possible so slingshot around the moon, then Mars, then Jupiter, then Staurn then Uranus and then Neptune and zoom out of the solar system at super velocity? and if it's possible what speed do you think would be possible?
I know that generally the planets have to be lined up but what if they wern't? can't you still slingshot to each planet and then eventually leave the solar system? I know it would take a hell of a lot longer to do it but if the speeds are enormous wouldn't it be worth it to send a ship to the next star system?

To reply to the original poster (since this thread appears to have been derailed by people who don't understand orbital mechanics)... You won't get "Super speed" (whatever that means), but gravity assist through sling shots can be used to reach solar escape velocity.

How do I know this? Because it has already BEEN DONE 4 times!!! (and a 5th is in progress)

- Pioneer 10 (launched 1972)
- Pioneer 11 (launched 1973)
- Voyager 1 (launched 1977)
- Voyager 2 (launched 1977)
(All of these 4 probes are beyond Pluto's orbit, heading for other stars - slooowly)
- New Horizons (AKA Pluto Express) (launched 2006, currently travelling towards Pluto after a Jupiter gravity assist. After it passes by in 2015, it will continue out into interstellar space)

Other probes, such as Galileo and Cassini used the same principles to reach their targets (Jupiter and Saturn).

None of these probes, or the rockets that launched them, had enough power to send them on a direct trajectory to their destination. They all used at least one gravity assist. And most were launched when the planets where in an optimal alignment to provide the best slingshot effects.

Here is a page with the current locations of probes escaping the solar system.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

I thought the VLASIMIR (sp) was an ion engine not a fusion engine?

 

[sojourner]

old thread is old.

 

[Trekker4747]

....

Why have you just bumped a year old thread? and bumped it with nothing more than an emoticon?
Seeing as I'm not posting threads anymore are you trying revive my old ones?

Shit!

Complete accident. Someone linked to it in another thread, read it, and saw that "September 11" part, but not the "2008" part.

Oops!

Sorry, gang, my bad!

 

[Alpha_Geek]

No worries, lets just file this one under "Classic Comedy".

 

[Gepard]

Someone linked to it in another thread, read it, and saw that "September 11" part, but not the "2008" part.

Same here. Which led to wondering why TerriO was issuing freindlies now that she's not a mod any more.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Here is a page with the current locations of probes escaping the solar system.

See post #3 on this thread.

( BTW my math in that post was highly rounded and was calculating round trip signal time.... Silly me!)

 

[Hyperspace05]

Oops, I guess I missed that post. Sorry

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Meh no worries. Compared to some goings on in this forum, it's a pretty small detail. LOL

 

[Australis]

/*pantpantpantpantpantpant....*/

In before teh lokk!

On topic... a deeper understanding of orbital mechanics is required by the original poster (who would probably say it just needed a grease and oil change. Oh wait, he nearly did...)

 

[sojourner]

Lock? this thread has been going for a over a year, dont think it's getting locked.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

At the risk of repeating myself... Compared to some goings on in this forum, it's a pretty small detail. LOL