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What I would like to know is how did ESA calculate the trajectory that Rosetta needed to take to meet up with the planets for the purpose of gravity-assist mane
by angdis 12y ago
What I would like to know is how did ESA calculate the trajectory that Rosetta needed to take to meet up with the planets for the purpose of gravity-assist maneuvers? I mean this was a 10 year journey, is there any way to make corrections to the trajectory? How much room for error is there?
- Sharlin 12y agoWith smart minds, Newtonian mechanics, numerical methods, and some computer time. The path was complex, mut not much moreso than eg. MESSENGER's seven-year journey to Mercury. Space probes usually do a couple of course corrections burns en route, but the margin of error is pretty small. Fortunately, orbital mechanics is highly predictable at human time scales even though n-body systems are quite chaotic in the long term. If the launch vehicle puts you straight on the calculated trajectory you can be pretty damn sure you'll be on the right path even ten years from now.