tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6717506789759388697.post5230149612488049717..comments2024-03-12T21:13:38.994+00:00Comments on Lunar Pioneer: After 50 years, Oberg suggests, why not bring Vanguard back to Earth?Joel Raupehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10479149035458870955noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6717506789759388697.post-6028548682660320012008-03-18T09:02:00.000+00:002008-03-18T09:02:00.000+00:00Worshipful Master Oberg (and the tone in most Blog...Worshipful Master Oberg (and the tone in most Blogging would indicate this to be a sarcastic title. It is not.) claimed retrieval of Vanguard I would be very difficult. And, I don’t disagree.<BR/><BR/>Near Earth Orbit, as opposed to Low-Earth Orbit, is intrinsically dangerous for the very reason Vanguard’s predecessor Explorer I discovered.<BR/><BR/>James Van Allen’s Belt of trapped, highly ionized charged particles, renewed by influx of solar activity and trapped between the compressed major field lines of Earth’s magnetic field. The fuel necessary to achieve the orbit depends on several factors, obviously, especially if such a mission were carried out by a manned vehicle. <BR/><BR/>Considering NASA’s reluctance to perform this last Hubble repair, this Summer, which even for a Hubble enthusiast like me appears no-longer cost effective, with a second Orbiter on the pad and heightened safety requirements – just taking the rendezvous into consideration, performed at a much higher altitude than the ISS – I don’t think the Shuttle could practically perform such a mission… even unmanned. It would be far too expensive, as a start, and probably unmanned.<BR/><BR/>Not going to happen anyway.<BR/><BR/>The inclination is not terribly low, still at 34.25 degrees off the equator, as you might expect from a vehicle launched from Kennedy, but a launch for Kourou would have the advantage of the additional speed of the rotation of Earth’s surface nearer the equator. And the orbital eccentricity of 0.1909, with Periapsis at 654 km and Apoapsis at 3969.0 makes a quick rendezvous window exceptionally tight.<BR/><BR/>The speed of this, the oldest space vehicle, at Periapsis would be markedly faster than any similarly high target and slow at Apoapsis, as Kepler would figure. So orbital changes, at the Hunter’s Ap and Pe could probably reach Vanguard in a day, and then back again, even using a RCS.<BR/><BR/>So difficult, yes, but very difficult… I don’t think so. Dangerous, absolutely. But the size of the target would be a decided advantage, weighing less than 2 pounds, and despite it’s jaunty antennae. It wasn’t built for a suit case. And timing the mission would require quite a bit of chin scratching and number crunching, not just because of the quick rendevous window. (A robot wouldn’t need such a tight window. But who doesn’t like a challenge.)<BR/><BR/>The challenge would be in getting a robot not to foul it up, or damage it, with very strong human VR remote control. Or you could just send me. I’d be real careful. Really.Joel Raupehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10479149035458870955noreply@blogger.com