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James Oberg On Mars!



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 22nd 09, 08:14 PM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Dr J R Stockton[_41_]
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Default James Oberg On Mars!

In sci.space.history message , Fri, 21 Aug
2009 12:20:15, Jochem Huhmann posted:

One more useful alternative to a landing would be to aerobrake into Mars
orbit, explore Phobos and maybe have some pre-landed rovers on Mars with
near realtime control.


Directly after the aerobraking, the vehicle is in an orbit with low
point in Mars' atmosphere and is in possession of some no-longer-needed
heat shield (I assume a smaller, new, shield for Earth re-entry). Those
remains of a shield which was sufficient to brake a manned mission
coming in from infinity into a fairly low orbit should be enough, on its
next pass, to brake a useful probe for Mars entry.

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  #2  
Old August 24th 09, 12:46 AM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy
Jochem Huhmann
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Posts: 606
Default James Oberg On Mars!

Dr J R Stockton writes:

In sci.space.history message , Fri, 21 Aug
2009 12:20:15, Jochem Huhmann posted:

One more useful alternative to a landing would be to aerobrake into Mars
orbit, explore Phobos and maybe have some pre-landed rovers on Mars with
near realtime control.


Directly after the aerobraking, the vehicle is in an orbit with low
point in Mars' atmosphere and is in possession of some no-longer-needed
heat shield (I assume a smaller, new, shield for Earth re-entry). Those
remains of a shield which was sufficient to brake a manned mission
coming in from infinity into a fairly low orbit should be enough, on its
next pass, to brake a useful probe for Mars entry.


You don't need a dedicated heat shield to brake into Mars orbit. MRO has
no such thing either. Of course the craft needs to be designed for that,
but this a very different thing to a landing. It also cuts a fair bit of
the most expensive and dangerous parts (entry, descent, landing, surface
stay, takeoff) out of the mission while still proving a large part of a
manned Mars mission and getting some useful work done. At least as a
first step towards a later surface mission this would be a very sane
thing to do first.


Jochem

--
"A designer knows he has arrived at perfection not when there is no
longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
 




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