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NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

theatlantic.com

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Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#21

Post by rzimmerman »

cwkoss wrote: post #17
rzimmerman wrote: post #4

A flying drone is a really solid idea for a Titan lander for a couple reasons: * The surface atmosphere density is higher than Earth's (1.5 atm) * Gravitational force is much lower (0.15g) * We don't know a lot about the surface composition or topography, so wheels and motors represent a challenge * Visibility may be poor, making visual navigation tricky (though that's also a problem for a flying vehicle I suppose) I…

In addition to lack of solar energy, I wonder if nuclear power source is necessary to keep batteries or other electronics warm enough to function properly. Conversely, on Titan, we won't need to worry about heat sinks as everything is kept at ~94K in a bath of liquid and frozen methane. Perhaps in a few hundred years AWS's most popular region for intensive compute will be under Titan's methane sea. High spin up cost,…

That's a good point - the "waste" heat from an RTG (which is only about 5% efficient) is very useful in those extreme cold temperatures.

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#22

Post by johnhenry »

jvanderbot wrote: post #7
rzimmerman wrote: post #4

A flying drone is a really solid idea for a Titan lander for a couple reasons: * The surface atmosphere density is higher than Earth's (1.5 atm) * Gravitational force is much lower (0.15g) * We don't know a lot about the surface composition or topography, so wheels and motors represent a challenge * Visibility may be poor, making visual navigation tricky (though that's also a problem for a flying vehicle I suppose) I…

The data rate from the surface of titan is abysmal. Even with a relay, we won't get much video, but man, I hope we get some.

Don't get your hopes down! It's still very possible that we'll get some good, if not real-time, video out of this!

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#23

Post by jvanderbot »

johnhenry wrote: post #22
jvanderbot wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data rate from the surface of titan is abysmal. Even with a relay, we won't get much video, but man, I hope we get some.

Don't get your hopes down! It's still very possible that we'll get some good, if not real-time, video out of this!

Ah, we likely will not get real time video. Maybe APL has some tricks I'm not privy to. Source: I asked a DSN coms engineer.

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#24

Post by 4ntonius8lock »

apo wrote: post #13

> Scientists suspect that Titan might even have water—real, actual H2O—lurking beneath its surface. Not just a little, but a lot of water: > The density of Titan is consistent with a body that is about 60% rock and 40% water. > ... > Pre-Cassini models of impact trajectories and angles suggest that where the impactor strikes the water ice crust, a small amount of ejecta remains as liquid water within the crater. It m…

Thanks, I seemed to remember reading about H2O on Titan. When the article didn't mention it, I thought I was confused. Didn't bother to look it up. Your comment furthered my understanding.

I think this type of projects would be a great bipartisan way to unite the country, as happened during the space race in the middle of the 20th century.

It might also revive some interest in STEM.

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#25

Post by saagarjha »

cwkoss wrote: post #17
rzimmerman wrote: post #4

A flying drone is a really solid idea for a Titan lander for a couple reasons: * The surface atmosphere density is higher than Earth's (1.5 atm) * Gravitational force is much lower (0.15g) * We don't know a lot about the surface composition or topography, so wheels and motors represent a challenge * Visibility may be poor, making visual navigation tricky (though that's also a problem for a flying vehicle I suppose) I…

In addition to lack of solar energy, I wonder if nuclear power source is necessary to keep batteries or other electronics warm enough to function properly. Conversely, on Titan, we won't need to worry about heat sinks as everything is kept at ~94K in a bath of liquid and frozen methane. Perhaps in a few hundred years AWS's most popular region for intensive compute will be under Titan's methane sea. High spin up cost,…

Super fast compute, but awful ping…

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#26

Post by newsoul2019 »

saagarjha wrote: post #25
cwkoss wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to lack of solar energy, I wonder if nuclear power source is necessary to keep batteries or other electronics warm enough to function properly. Conversely, on Titan, we won't need to worry about heat sinks as everything is kept at ~94K in a bath of liquid and frozen methane. Perhaps in a few hundred years AWS's most popular region for intensive compute will be under Titan's methane sea. High spin up cost,…

Super fast compute, but awful ping…

Perfect for mining bitcoin

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#27

Post by jvanderbot »

maxxxxx wrote: post #10
jvanderbot wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data rate from the surface of titan is abysmal. Even with a relay, we won't get much video, but man, I hope we get some.

No 4K flyovers for Instagram?

I mean sure, eventually, over many down link cycles. But not real time.

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#28

Post by p1mrx »

rzimmerman wrote: post #4

A flying drone is a really solid idea for a Titan lander for a couple reasons: * The surface atmosphere density is higher than Earth's (1.5 atm) * Gravitational force is much lower (0.15g) * We don't know a lot about the surface composition or topography, so wheels and motors represent a challenge * Visibility may be poor, making visual navigation tricky (though that's also a problem for a flying vehicle I suppose) I…

Will this be the first-ever instance of nuclear-powered flight?

Re: NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan

#29

Post by redcalx »

newsoul2019 wrote: post #26
saagarjha wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Super fast compute, but awful ping…

Perfect for mining bitcoin

Not really; if you find a block it will mostly likely have been beaten by someone else's block by the time yours reaches most nodes...unless there is a Saturn based side chain or similar.
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