Why are probes that tend to explore outer system always launched to go outwards instead of straight upwards...
Let's take a look at the trajectory of variety probe missions.
New Horizons and Ultima Thule will be 4.1 billion miles away when it visits the Kuiper Belt object. This chart shows the path of New Horizons compared to other probes that have left the solar system. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [1]
I wonder, why all these probes tend to explore outer system were launched to go outwards of the eliptical plane instead of go upwards or downwards? What I'm talking about here is go upwards or downwards that is considerably close to 90 degree. I was told the eliptical plane of any solar system tends to stay relatively uniform, with only Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) showing bizarre inclinations. The closest thing we'd find "below" the Earth would be an Oort Cloud object or outer star system, is it accurate to said so? What would we find if we go straight upwards and downwards?
Point of interest
1 Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor, January 2 2019, NASA's New Horizons Just Made the Most Distant Flyby in Space History. So, What's Next?
probe planetary-science solar-system
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
add a comment |
Let's take a look at the trajectory of variety probe missions.
New Horizons and Ultima Thule will be 4.1 billion miles away when it visits the Kuiper Belt object. This chart shows the path of New Horizons compared to other probes that have left the solar system. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [1]
I wonder, why all these probes tend to explore outer system were launched to go outwards of the eliptical plane instead of go upwards or downwards? What I'm talking about here is go upwards or downwards that is considerably close to 90 degree. I was told the eliptical plane of any solar system tends to stay relatively uniform, with only Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) showing bizarre inclinations. The closest thing we'd find "below" the Earth would be an Oort Cloud object or outer star system, is it accurate to said so? What would we find if we go straight upwards and downwards?
Point of interest
1 Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor, January 2 2019, NASA's New Horizons Just Made the Most Distant Flyby in Space History. So, What's Next?
probe planetary-science solar-system
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
3
The interesting things are in the ecliptic plane more or less.
– Organic Marble
3 hours ago
Starting out from Earth, you have the free 30 km/s from Earth's movement around the Sun, which is in the plane of the ecliptic. To get far out of the plane you either have to boost a similar amount "up" or "down" (which is beyond the capability of current rockets) or go via one of the gas giants, and use its gravity to change course. So at least to start with you don't really have a choice.
– Steve Linton
38 mins ago
add a comment |
Let's take a look at the trajectory of variety probe missions.
New Horizons and Ultima Thule will be 4.1 billion miles away when it visits the Kuiper Belt object. This chart shows the path of New Horizons compared to other probes that have left the solar system. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [1]
I wonder, why all these probes tend to explore outer system were launched to go outwards of the eliptical plane instead of go upwards or downwards? What I'm talking about here is go upwards or downwards that is considerably close to 90 degree. I was told the eliptical plane of any solar system tends to stay relatively uniform, with only Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) showing bizarre inclinations. The closest thing we'd find "below" the Earth would be an Oort Cloud object or outer star system, is it accurate to said so? What would we find if we go straight upwards and downwards?
Point of interest
1 Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor, January 2 2019, NASA's New Horizons Just Made the Most Distant Flyby in Space History. So, What's Next?
probe planetary-science solar-system
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
Let's take a look at the trajectory of variety probe missions.
New Horizons and Ultima Thule will be 4.1 billion miles away when it visits the Kuiper Belt object. This chart shows the path of New Horizons compared to other probes that have left the solar system. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [1]
I wonder, why all these probes tend to explore outer system were launched to go outwards of the eliptical plane instead of go upwards or downwards? What I'm talking about here is go upwards or downwards that is considerably close to 90 degree. I was told the eliptical plane of any solar system tends to stay relatively uniform, with only Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) showing bizarre inclinations. The closest thing we'd find "below" the Earth would be an Oort Cloud object or outer star system, is it accurate to said so? What would we find if we go straight upwards and downwards?
Point of interest
1 Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor, January 2 2019, NASA's New Horizons Just Made the Most Distant Flyby in Space History. So, What's Next?
probe planetary-science solar-system
probe planetary-science solar-system
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
asked 3 hours ago
Boosted Nub
736224
736224
3
The interesting things are in the ecliptic plane more or less.
– Organic Marble
3 hours ago
Starting out from Earth, you have the free 30 km/s from Earth's movement around the Sun, which is in the plane of the ecliptic. To get far out of the plane you either have to boost a similar amount "up" or "down" (which is beyond the capability of current rockets) or go via one of the gas giants, and use its gravity to change course. So at least to start with you don't really have a choice.
– Steve Linton
38 mins ago
add a comment |
3
The interesting things are in the ecliptic plane more or less.
– Organic Marble
3 hours ago
Starting out from Earth, you have the free 30 km/s from Earth's movement around the Sun, which is in the plane of the ecliptic. To get far out of the plane you either have to boost a similar amount "up" or "down" (which is beyond the capability of current rockets) or go via one of the gas giants, and use its gravity to change course. So at least to start with you don't really have a choice.
– Steve Linton
38 mins ago
3
3
The interesting things are in the ecliptic plane more or less.
– Organic Marble
3 hours ago
The interesting things are in the ecliptic plane more or less.
– Organic Marble
3 hours ago
Starting out from Earth, you have the free 30 km/s from Earth's movement around the Sun, which is in the plane of the ecliptic. To get far out of the plane you either have to boost a similar amount "up" or "down" (which is beyond the capability of current rockets) or go via one of the gas giants, and use its gravity to change course. So at least to start with you don't really have a choice.
– Steve Linton
38 mins ago
Starting out from Earth, you have the free 30 km/s from Earth's movement around the Sun, which is in the plane of the ecliptic. To get far out of the plane you either have to boost a similar amount "up" or "down" (which is beyond the capability of current rockets) or go via one of the gas giants, and use its gravity to change course. So at least to start with you don't really have a choice.
– Steve Linton
38 mins ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
The Ulysses probe although it only barely got into the Outer Solar System did orbit at almost 90 degrees to the ecliptic (about 80.2 degrees, in fact) in order to get a look at the North and South poles of the sun and the radiation and magnetic fields coming from them.
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
add a comment |
We've had 5 flyby missions to the outer solar system so far. All of them had primary missions at one or more planets. That set the main constraints for their trajectories. Anything after the last planetary encounter was secondary.
For Voyager 2, for instance, the Neptune flyby was aimed at a close encounter with Triton, which reduced the possible exit trajectories:
You also see Voyager 2 now has a significant angle relative to the ecliptic.
The others:
- Voyager 1 had moons to visit at Saturn
- for the Pioneers, I don't think an interstellar mission was considered at all
- New Horizons had to fly by Pluto, so it was limited to Pluto's plane (Pluto is not large enough to change NH's course significantly)
There are almost no targets of interest outside the ecliptic. No planets or other bodies we can visit. The only reason to choose a trajectory perpendicular to the ecliptic, is to have another measurement point for the solar wind. But spending an entire mission to 100 AU on just that would be expensive for very limited return.
A study for an interstellar mission is underway, but that too is planned to include a KBO visit so it'll be constrained to the ecliptic.
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
Is it really just objects of interest? Would it not be more difficult to send a probe along the axis perpendicular to the elliptical plane?
– Ellesedil
8 mins ago
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
2
active
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active
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active
oldest
votes
The Ulysses probe although it only barely got into the Outer Solar System did orbit at almost 90 degrees to the ecliptic (about 80.2 degrees, in fact) in order to get a look at the North and South poles of the sun and the radiation and magnetic fields coming from them.
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
add a comment |
The Ulysses probe although it only barely got into the Outer Solar System did orbit at almost 90 degrees to the ecliptic (about 80.2 degrees, in fact) in order to get a look at the North and South poles of the sun and the radiation and magnetic fields coming from them.
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
add a comment |
The Ulysses probe although it only barely got into the Outer Solar System did orbit at almost 90 degrees to the ecliptic (about 80.2 degrees, in fact) in order to get a look at the North and South poles of the sun and the radiation and magnetic fields coming from them.
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
The Ulysses probe although it only barely got into the Outer Solar System did orbit at almost 90 degrees to the ecliptic (about 80.2 degrees, in fact) in order to get a look at the North and South poles of the sun and the radiation and magnetic fields coming from them.
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
answered 1 hour ago
Steve Linton
6,37911438
6,37911438
add a comment |
add a comment |
We've had 5 flyby missions to the outer solar system so far. All of them had primary missions at one or more planets. That set the main constraints for their trajectories. Anything after the last planetary encounter was secondary.
For Voyager 2, for instance, the Neptune flyby was aimed at a close encounter with Triton, which reduced the possible exit trajectories:
You also see Voyager 2 now has a significant angle relative to the ecliptic.
The others:
- Voyager 1 had moons to visit at Saturn
- for the Pioneers, I don't think an interstellar mission was considered at all
- New Horizons had to fly by Pluto, so it was limited to Pluto's plane (Pluto is not large enough to change NH's course significantly)
There are almost no targets of interest outside the ecliptic. No planets or other bodies we can visit. The only reason to choose a trajectory perpendicular to the ecliptic, is to have another measurement point for the solar wind. But spending an entire mission to 100 AU on just that would be expensive for very limited return.
A study for an interstellar mission is underway, but that too is planned to include a KBO visit so it'll be constrained to the ecliptic.
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
Is it really just objects of interest? Would it not be more difficult to send a probe along the axis perpendicular to the elliptical plane?
– Ellesedil
8 mins ago
add a comment |
We've had 5 flyby missions to the outer solar system so far. All of them had primary missions at one or more planets. That set the main constraints for their trajectories. Anything after the last planetary encounter was secondary.
For Voyager 2, for instance, the Neptune flyby was aimed at a close encounter with Triton, which reduced the possible exit trajectories:
You also see Voyager 2 now has a significant angle relative to the ecliptic.
The others:
- Voyager 1 had moons to visit at Saturn
- for the Pioneers, I don't think an interstellar mission was considered at all
- New Horizons had to fly by Pluto, so it was limited to Pluto's plane (Pluto is not large enough to change NH's course significantly)
There are almost no targets of interest outside the ecliptic. No planets or other bodies we can visit. The only reason to choose a trajectory perpendicular to the ecliptic, is to have another measurement point for the solar wind. But spending an entire mission to 100 AU on just that would be expensive for very limited return.
A study for an interstellar mission is underway, but that too is planned to include a KBO visit so it'll be constrained to the ecliptic.
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
Is it really just objects of interest? Would it not be more difficult to send a probe along the axis perpendicular to the elliptical plane?
– Ellesedil
8 mins ago
add a comment |
We've had 5 flyby missions to the outer solar system so far. All of them had primary missions at one or more planets. That set the main constraints for their trajectories. Anything after the last planetary encounter was secondary.
For Voyager 2, for instance, the Neptune flyby was aimed at a close encounter with Triton, which reduced the possible exit trajectories:
You also see Voyager 2 now has a significant angle relative to the ecliptic.
The others:
- Voyager 1 had moons to visit at Saturn
- for the Pioneers, I don't think an interstellar mission was considered at all
- New Horizons had to fly by Pluto, so it was limited to Pluto's plane (Pluto is not large enough to change NH's course significantly)
There are almost no targets of interest outside the ecliptic. No planets or other bodies we can visit. The only reason to choose a trajectory perpendicular to the ecliptic, is to have another measurement point for the solar wind. But spending an entire mission to 100 AU on just that would be expensive for very limited return.
A study for an interstellar mission is underway, but that too is planned to include a KBO visit so it'll be constrained to the ecliptic.
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
We've had 5 flyby missions to the outer solar system so far. All of them had primary missions at one or more planets. That set the main constraints for their trajectories. Anything after the last planetary encounter was secondary.
For Voyager 2, for instance, the Neptune flyby was aimed at a close encounter with Triton, which reduced the possible exit trajectories:
You also see Voyager 2 now has a significant angle relative to the ecliptic.
The others:
- Voyager 1 had moons to visit at Saturn
- for the Pioneers, I don't think an interstellar mission was considered at all
- New Horizons had to fly by Pluto, so it was limited to Pluto's plane (Pluto is not large enough to change NH's course significantly)
There are almost no targets of interest outside the ecliptic. No planets or other bodies we can visit. The only reason to choose a trajectory perpendicular to the ecliptic, is to have another measurement point for the solar wind. But spending an entire mission to 100 AU on just that would be expensive for very limited return.
A study for an interstellar mission is underway, but that too is planned to include a KBO visit so it'll be constrained to the ecliptic.
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
edited 1 hour ago
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
answered 2 hours ago
Hobbes
86.4k2246392
86.4k2246392
Is it really just objects of interest? Would it not be more difficult to send a probe along the axis perpendicular to the elliptical plane?
– Ellesedil
8 mins ago
add a comment |
Is it really just objects of interest? Would it not be more difficult to send a probe along the axis perpendicular to the elliptical plane?
– Ellesedil
8 mins ago
Is it really just objects of interest? Would it not be more difficult to send a probe along the axis perpendicular to the elliptical plane?
– Ellesedil
8 mins ago
Is it really just objects of interest? Would it not be more difficult to send a probe along the axis perpendicular to the elliptical plane?
– Ellesedil
8 mins ago
add a comment |
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3
The interesting things are in the ecliptic plane more or less.
– Organic Marble
3 hours ago
Starting out from Earth, you have the free 30 km/s from Earth's movement around the Sun, which is in the plane of the ecliptic. To get far out of the plane you either have to boost a similar amount "up" or "down" (which is beyond the capability of current rockets) or go via one of the gas giants, and use its gravity to change course. So at least to start with you don't really have a choice.
– Steve Linton
38 mins ago