5 ms·

Would it be possible to drop a payload that would enter orbit?

baq 10y ago
slowing down from that kind of velocity is serious business. you're talking about braking from 75000km/s to ~8km/s and not blowing up in a spectacular explosion.
outworlder 10y ago
The payload would need to slow down to be captured by the planet just the same. Normally you could try aerobraking and the like, but we are talking about relativistic speeds here.
- jcoffland 10y ago
  There may not be any significant atmosphere for aerobraking. This likely would not be known until long after the probe arrived.
- paulvs 10y ago
  To get better closeup pictures, if possible, aim the probe for the planet and live stream picture home all the way to impact. Although I'm not sure these probes are at all steerable, either autonomously or remotely.
  - garaetjjte 10y ago
    Livestream at 20% of light speed?
  - messe 10y ago
    Highly unlikely, the mass of the probes will be on the order of several grams at most, and, depending on the trajectory relative to the planet, steering could require an equally impractical amount of fuel as slowing down would.
deleted 10y ago
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Bluestrike2 10y ago
We'd also have limited knowledge of the system itself. Without more accurate data about its objects and their orbits, it'd be almost impossible to plan out orbit insertions even assuming we come up with a means of slowing a probe from relativistic speeds. Even if your probe had the computing power to run orbital mechanics calculations, there's no guarantee that it'd be in a position to actually make it work when it got there. Of course, that's ignoring the mass constraints involved. But that doesn't discount the value of even 'just' flyby missions. The scientific benefit would be, literally, incalculable. And the data could help with followup missions, assuming we develop a drive system that could get there and slow down.
pilom 10y ago
The StarShot probes are going to be about a gram. Not much weight to make a primary probe AND a payload.

baq 10y ago

slowing down from that kind of velocity is serious business. you're talking about braking from 75000km/s to ~8km/s and not blowing up in a spectacular explosion.

outworlder 10y ago

The payload would need to slow down to be captured by the planet just the same. Normally you could try aerobraking and the like, but we are talking about relativistic speeds here.

jcoffland 10y ago
There may not be any significant atmosphere for aerobraking. This likely would not be known until long after the probe arrived.
paulvs 10y ago
To get better closeup pictures, if possible, aim the probe for the planet and live stream picture home all the way to impact. Although I'm not sure these probes are at all steerable, either autonomously or remotely.
- garaetjjte 10y ago
  Livestream at 20% of light speed?
- messe 10y ago
  Highly unlikely, the mass of the probes will be on the order of several grams at most, and, depending on the trajectory relative to the planet, steering could require an equally impractical amount of fuel as slowing down would.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Bluestrike2 10y ago

We'd also have limited knowledge of the system itself. Without more accurate data about its objects and their orbits, it'd be almost impossible to plan out orbit insertions even assuming we come up with a means of slowing a probe from relativistic speeds. Even if your probe had the computing power to run orbital mechanics calculations, there's no guarantee that it'd be in a position to actually make it work when it got there. Of course, that's ignoring the mass constraints involved. But that doesn't discount the value of even 'just' flyby missions. The scientific benefit would be, literally, incalculable. And the data could help with followup missions, assuming we develop a drive system that could get there and slow down.

pilom 10y ago

The StarShot probes are going to be about a gram. Not much weight to make a primary probe AND a payload.