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Its so cool that the entire solar system has a sort of ozone layer (the heliopause), I also really like the diagram that shows how each craft is travelling in d
by mjgs 5y ago
Its so cool that the entire solar system has a sort of ozone layer (the heliopause), I also really like the diagram that shows how each craft is travelling in different directions.
I think we should have a new mission, send out huge amounts of tiny crafts in all directions at the same time, to get a sort of Google street view of our solar system and interstellar space. I bet we could create crafts with modern tech that where tiny and much less expensive that the original pioneer and voyager crafts.
- throwaway3699 5y agoStreet view in space? I think you might be underestimating just how empty the solar system is.
- feintruled 5y agoThe Gaia probe is doing something a little like this to create a full 3D star map. It rotates as it goes and uses parallax to measure the distance and motion between stars exactly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(spacecraft)
- Denvercoder9 5y ago> I bet we could create crafts with modern tech that where tiny and much less expensive that the original pioneer and voyager crafts. It's harder than you'd expect. At that distance solar panels are essentially useless, so you do need nuclear power, and you're continuously exposed to cosmic rays, so you need radiation-hardened electronics. Both of these drive up the cost. The Voyagers also had the the outer planets in alignment to give it a gravity assist, so if you want to get there on the same time scales you'll need a more powerful rocket as well.
- mjgs 5y agoI read somewhere that sending very small spacecraft to far away places was something that was being considered. Unfortunately I don’t remember the details. We just need an artificial gravity machine.
- TheCondor 5y agoBreakthrough starshot? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot
- mjgs 5y agoTiny spacecrafts and sails with lasers. Yeah pretty sure that was it. Such a cool idea, and it would only take 30 years, which means a lot of us will still be alive to see it. Imagine seeing actual closeup pictures of “earth 2”. Anyway if they used the same technology, but sent spacecraft out into space from locations all around the Earth at the same time, then we could gather data as this fleet headed into deep space. Like one of those big planet explosions in science fiction movies, but instead of an explosion, just tiny space crafts.
- Jeff_Brown 5y agoThere's no way to get a gravity assist in directions orthogonal to the solar plane, which makes travel in those directions either far more expensive or far slower.
- reaperducer 5y agoGoogle street view of our solar system Has anyone ever updated Commodore's Visible Solar System? Very inspiring. https://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=https%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D3131 https://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=https%3A//www.lemon64.com/g...
- pantulis 5y agoI had that on my Vic20. https://www.vic-20.it/visible-solar-sistem-1930/ https://www.vic-20.it/visible-solar-sistem-1930/