08-19-2003, 07:50 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,398
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European Moon Mission
I just read this article from CNN.com:
"Europe readies to shoot for the moon"
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/0....ap/index.html
According to the article, Europe (which countries do they mean by "Europe"?) will launch an unmanned craft this fall/winter the size of a washing machine to the moon.
It uses an Ion engine (yay!), which CNN says "...build[s] up speed continuously [and] can eventually travel far faster than a craft powered by traditional rocket fuel."
HOWEVER, it will take 18 months to reach the moon! The Apollo missions during the 60s and 70s only took 3 days.
Ion-based engines are awesome, but how long does it take to build up all this "speed"???
I did the math, and SMART-1 (or "SLOW-1" if you prefer :lol: ) will be going 18.4 miles (29.7 kilometers) an hour! Most people can run that fast!
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08-19-2003, 08:07 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 126
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Re: European Moon Mission
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Originally Posted by David Prahl
I did the math, and SMART-1 (or "SLOW-1" if you prefer :lol: ) will be going 18.4 miles (29.7 kilometers) an hour! Most people can run that fast!
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I don't know about that fast ... that's a 12 second 100 meters ... :lol:
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08-19-2003, 08:13 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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From what I've read, the ion engine is a "slow build" engine - very efficient, but it takes a LONG time to build up to conventional chemical rocket speeds.
From an article on the NASA website:
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Originally Posted by NASA
The almost imperceptible thrust from the system is equivalent to the pressure exerted by a sheet of paper held in the palm of your hand. The ion engine is very slow to pick up speed, but over the long haul it can deliver 10 times as much thrust per pound of fuel as more traditional rockets.
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I think that the by the end of its mission, the Deep Space 1 probe only used up 17 or 18kg of Xenon fuel, out of a tank of 80kg. Not too shabby! 0X
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08-19-2003, 08:55 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 72
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Re: European Moon Mission
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08-20-2003, 07:32 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 382
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Re: European Moon Mission
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Originally Posted by Small Town Man
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I would guess that they meant the ESA (European Space Agency) rather than the EU.
ESA has 15 Member States:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom
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