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Captain Kirk would hate space travel now - it's coasting 99.9% of the time.

Current space travel resembles hypermiling.

Take the New Horizions probe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_horizons) bound for Pluto.It lifts off on Jan 2006, coasts for about 10 minutes in orbit, then refires to accelerate to 35,800mph 43 minutes after launch. It then coasts to Jupiter. "Drafting" Jupiter gets it up to around 47,000 mph to shave the journey to Pluto from 12 to 9 years.

Story at Slingshots in Space (http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/02/27/70820.aspx).

Its funny you should mention New Horizons. While most spacecraft coast pretty much, I am particularly proud of New Horizons since I worked on that project for about 3.5 years. Although I don't have anything on the actual spacecraft, we built a lot of the test equipment to check out the thrusters, flight software, etc. The simulators are still used to check out the flight software before they are uplinked to the spacecraft computers. More cool stuff is at this link:

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu

Go New Horizons!

Since I was not aware of that, you know you have a true fan.

I think one of the Voyager probes of the 70's was going to Pluto but NASA decided Neptune instead? For years, they have been trying to get a probe to visit Pluto before it's orbit is so far the atmosphere freezes solid. The ashes of Clyde Tombaugh (who discovered Pluto) is onboard.

Congratulations of New Horizons so far and hope 2015 will be a great year for the project! :)

I know one of the Voyagers went by Neptune, but I did not know that they originally had plans for Pluto. Yeah, I think it took a great deal of effort before the science community finally a mission to Pluto. If for some reason they had failed to launch before Feb 2006, then the Jupiter gravity assist wouldn't have been there and it would have taken some 3 to 5 years more to get to Pluto. You are right, they want to study Pluto's atmosphere before winter sets in there and it freezes.

I really hope the interplanetary cruise/coast for the next 8 years goes well.

Hi Raguru:

___You must have one kick @$$ job! I bet 25% of CleanMPG’s membership would love to work on anything heading into space like you have. I know I would!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

___You must have one kick @$$ job! I bet 25% of CleanMPG’s membership would love to work on anything heading into space like you have. I know I would!


Second that!

Hi Raguru:

___You must have one kick @$$ job! I bet 25% of CleanMPG’s membership would love to work on anything heading into space like you have. I know I would!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I bet it may be even higher than that.:)

Thanks everyone. :) I should consider myself lucky to have been associated with a historic project.

Thanks everyone. :) I should consider myself lucky to have been associated with a historic project.

Just think - you and/or New Horizons might be mentioned on a future episode of Star Trek. (remember "V-Ger"?)

I read the title and immediately thought of The Muppet Show: P&G innnnnn spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!!

:D

Heh, talk about rabbit-timing. Too bad I can't slingshot
around those Escalades...
.
_H*