So NASA sent a probe to collect some asteroid dirt from an asteroid that has an orbit similar to our own. Seven years round trip, which basically means it went around the sun seven times. Not how Flash Gordon would have done it, but then this was an economy cruise. Nice thing about robots, they don't have to be fed or watered, you can just put them to sleep for the duration and give 'em a call to wake them up when it's time to get to work.
The video makes it look like everything was happening in the same plane which is not actually the case.
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| Earth Gravity Assist Trajectory – Image: University of Arizona |
The plane of the asteroid's orbit is inclined six degrees compared to the Earth's. The probe was sent on a trajectory that caused it to be slightly below the Earth's orbital plane so when it caught up with the Earth after the first year, the Earth would give it a tug that would send it up at the required angle of six degrees.
1 comment:
That's amazing, they figured out what to do to get that result. It wouldn't take a very big error to blow the mission.
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