Dawn Approacheth
April 7, 2011: After 3-1/2 years of thrusting silently through the void, NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on the threshold of a new world. It's deep in the asteroid belt, less than 4 months from giant asteroid Vesta.
Comments:
Looking forward to the photos. I can't remember which asteroid is bigger, but to me this is like visiting two new (dwarf) planets considering their size and "roundness".
Very cool, indeed!<br><br>Not having looked into the details of this method of propulsion, i'm really curious what range of acceleration is typical. In street-terms, how many MPH is added for an hour of xenon "burn"? And would such a drive lose effectiveness during interstellar trips, losing collector "juice" with diminishing solar/stellar intensity? Plus, a kg of "fuel" may not sound like a lot- but ultimately weight (ie. amount of fuel) would limit "useful" range... how long could acceleration then be induced, and to what range of velocities?<br><br>That would make for quite the flyby experience at the far end of the trip!... some alien version of NASA might watch with terror as a strange "probe" came whistling by at 33%c, like an interstellar evil knievel! 8)
the Dawn of a New World?
Funding Member
