6 ms·
Was the planetary alignment that rare? Seems like it would be a good investment in science even if it takes decades to reach deep space.
by rapjr9 1y ago
Was the planetary alignment that rare? Seems like it would be a good investment in science even if it takes decades to reach deep space.
- withinboredom 1y agoI don't remember the exact numbers, but it's an alignment that only happens every hundred years or so.
- bluGill 1y agoThat one in once in several hundred years. they were mostly interested in visiting 5 planets though not getting out. There may be other orbits that allow for more speed but skip something - I'm not an orbital engineer so I don't know how to calculate that. there is a lot more to learn about planets than what is outside the solar system so there is much point in a dedicated misson out. We still won't reach any other star for thousands of years, and have no power supply that will last that long. (there are things to learn out side our solar system, but most of it we can learn with a telescope from earth)
- ahazred8ta 1y agoJupiter and Saturn line up every 20 years, and after Saturn you can choose trajectories that can reach half the outer solar system. In the 1970s Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were in that half. They almost decided to send Voyager 1 on a course from Saturn to Pluto instead of taking a closer look at Titan and going north out of plane.