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Could you explain the gravity assist portion a bit more please? A gravity slingshot only works when you transition from a regime dominated by one body (sun for
by thirdhaf 15y ago
Could you explain the gravity assist portion a bit more please? A gravity slingshot only works when you transition from a regime dominated by one body (sun for example) to a regime dominated by another body moving relative to it (Jupiter for many outbound probes).
I guess you could use a scheme similar to Cassini where you're doing multiple gravity assist swings off anything at all to get every last erg of thrust but my gut feeling is that you're not gaining much relative to the delta v needed for your complete voyage.
It would make for a fun app though. Design your own Interstellar Mission!
- InclinedPlane 15y agoI believe he's talking about the Oberth effect. Consider the total kinetic energy of a spacecraft in free fall (in orbit) and after a delta V has been applied. When farthest away from the Sun the KE after the spacecraft has finished firing its rocket will be proportional to (low-v + delta-v)^2, whereas if the firing is done at closest approach to the Sun the KE will be proportional to (high-v + delta-v)^2. You'll get a 2free-fall-speeddelta-v energy boost, so being at the highest relative speed possible to start is definitely advantageous, since this KE boost will translate into higher final speeds as well.
- Nick_C 15y ago> It would make for a fun app though Like this one? http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/ http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/ Orbiter is a space sim with accurate orbital mechanics (including the Oberth effect ;). It's a lot of fun. You can use realistic current vehicles for accuracy, or unrealistic ones with huge power-to-weight for fun.