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How to Navigate a Spacecraft to Mars

Posted by Hemos on from the fly-me-to-the-moon dept.

EccentricAnomaly writes "JPL has an article on how to design trajectories to Mars with the porkchop plot. They use an interesting analogy between reading these plots and divining the future from animal entrails. JPL also has the most excellent Basics of Spaceflight, which is an easy to understand tutorial on how to explore deep space."

12 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Step one of plotting a trajectory to Mars by kfg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Make sure everyone is using the SAME friggin' system of units.

    KFG

  2. Basics of Space Flight [Hollywood version] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    • You need continuous thrust. Relying on Newton's 1st law to travel is for losers.
    • Always point toward your goal. Don't do a 180 and decelerate with your main engine, no need to match speeds.
    • Asteroid fields should look as dense as a forest, even if in reality asteroids rarely come within a mile of each other.
    • Shadows in space aren't totally black, because then we can't see.
    • Show stars through windows of well-lit spaceship rooms, because they're cool.
    • A gravity assist with the Sun will help you fly much faster.
    • Crescents of close bodies don't need to be oriented in the same way (oops, slashdot space logo?)
    1. Re:Basics of Space Flight [Hollywood version] by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Funny
      Don't forget:

      • All objects in space make whooshing sounds or deep, rumbling sounds as they pass by.
      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  3. Sounds like software development to me by ColaMan · · Score: 5, Funny
    Let's look at the similarities ...

    It costs a shitload.

    You normally have a few earlier versions that didn't perform to plan.

    You need to aim at a moving target that won't be there for two years, and of course you're own platform is moving as well.

    Not forgetting that if you're careless and not do your sums right , you'll crash and burn spectacularly and look like an idiot in front of the rest of the world.

    The major difference is of course (drumroll , please)

    In Space, no-one can hear your FUD.

    --

    You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
    There is a lot of hype here.
  4. Ah, time, time... by imipak · · Score: 2

    It's a funny thing, I wget'ed (wgot?) that tutorial months ago... "Aha! At last a way to wile away the long gaps between new issues of TVGoHome - I'll teach myself orbital mechanics! And there it sits, unread, along with everything else I mirrored for offline reading... unread whilst I just check Slashdot one more time... (Those links probably won't work unless I'm online. Goddam these UK phone charges... )

  5. Rocket Scientists by Alien54 · · Score: 2
    Since we're going to start having amatuer rocket scientists traveling into space ...

    It looks like JPL is helping people figure out how to get to mars on thier own. Tragically, I can see the fruit cakes now.

    I imagine it won't be so bad, so long as they leave a trail of bread crumbs,p.;-)

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  6. Brave man... by No+Such+Agency · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not only did you link to your home box on Slashdot (as we know, infamous for bringing even the largest websites to their knees), but now everybody knows your IP address too. That takes guts. Of course, if you're not online all the time, you'll be of much less interest to jerkwad scr1pt k1dd13z who want to run their personal pr0n site off your HD... Cheers!

    --
    Freedom: "I won't!"
    1. Re:Brave man... by imipak · · Score: 2

      heh! I didn't think of that... but, just to compound the risk - I'm pretty confident my properly secured NT4 box can take the heat. No, really, I am! OK, admittedly, I'm running low on medication, but still...

    2. Re:Brave man... by imipak · · Score: 2
      Wow, lotsa hits in fact... I'm surprised!


      andrew@INEGO% tail -100 access_log |grep -v
      192.168.0|awk '{print $1}'|sort|uniq
      127.0.0.1
      130.215.233.215
      160.36.81.191
      192.156.13.35
      192.156.13.36
      213.89.4.32
      216.165.42.86
      216.170.210.56
      61.136.15.233

      And anyway, skipt |1dd135?? On Slashdot??? Surely not...

  7. Use Castors! by JabberWokky · · Score: 2
    I've always found that having a genius level set of twins, a cantankerous grandmother who writes Space Opera and a beset upon set of parents trying to raise a young child is a great way to get to mars. Sure, the bikes won't turn a profit post-tariff, but the flatcats will make serious money out in the belt.

    Failing that, just standing on the ground and looking up and wishing really hard sometimes works. You get scantily clad Martian princeses that way, too!

    --
    Evan "going through and rereading all his Trek novels, but may take a Barsoomian vacation for a bit" E.

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  8. Stone family by rossdee · · Score: 2

    IIRC they used Hazel's figures, as hers were the median...

    Would have been interesting if they had used Meade's...

    1. Re:Stone family by JabberWokky · · Score: 2
      Bless you... I've been making classic SF references (hint: I don't consider "Star Wars" classic SF) for a long long time on Slashdot - it used to be recognized and replied to way back when (before the great user purge), but hasn't in *years*.

      Ah, the glories of riding up on a tower of flame from your backyard, slipstick in one hand, the future ahead. It's a damn shame that we socialized space. It'll be there, though... it's been waiting for quite awhile.

      --
      Evan "Ad Astra Nauseum... but the Eagle has landed, tell your children when; Time won't drive us down to dust again" E.

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien