Editing 1244: Six Words
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | The six words are | + | The six words are "It works in ''Kerbal Space Program''". |
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The {{w|Kuiper Belt}} is a region of the outer Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune consisting of numerous small icy bodies, including the dwarf planets {{w|Pluto}} and {{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}}. An {{w|Oberth effect|Oberth maneuver}} is a spaceflight maneuver, specifically an engine burn performed during the flyby of a celestial body. The point of this is to optimize usable energy, because rocket burns are more effective to perform at high speeds than at low speeds. The more massive the body and the lower the altitude, the higher the flyby speed will be, and the greater the performance gain due to the Oberth effect. The theoretical way to use rocket fuel most efficiently is therefore to execute the burn during a flyby of the most massive celestial body available, as close as possible. | The {{w|Kuiper Belt}} is a region of the outer Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune consisting of numerous small icy bodies, including the dwarf planets {{w|Pluto}} and {{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}}. An {{w|Oberth effect|Oberth maneuver}} is a spaceflight maneuver, specifically an engine burn performed during the flyby of a celestial body. The point of this is to optimize usable energy, because rocket burns are more effective to perform at high speeds than at low speeds. The more massive the body and the lower the altitude, the higher the flyby speed will be, and the greater the performance gain due to the Oberth effect. The theoretical way to use rocket fuel most efficiently is therefore to execute the burn during a flyby of the most massive celestial body available, as close as possible. | ||
[[Cueball]] is proposing to implement an "Oberth Kuiper Maneuver", and the proposal diagram shows the spacecraft using {{w|Gravity assist|gravity assists}} to travel first towards (presumably) {{w|Venus}} for a first boost, then towards Jupiter for another swing by, aiming it back towards the {{w|Sun}}, the most massive Solar System body, to perform an Oberth maneuver at the point of closest approach, as indicated by a small dot along the spacecraft trajectory. It is possible that the diagram might only be a simplified outline of a more complex flight plan. For example, the trajectory from Earth to Venus would require two separate burns in deep space. The first burn would occur immediately after escaping Earth's sphere of influence. The second burn would occur about halfway to Venus. Alternatively, Cueball may have gotten it wrong, or [[Randall]] may simply not have concerned himself with such things for the purpose of a webcomic sketch. | [[Cueball]] is proposing to implement an "Oberth Kuiper Maneuver", and the proposal diagram shows the spacecraft using {{w|Gravity assist|gravity assists}} to travel first towards (presumably) {{w|Venus}} for a first boost, then towards Jupiter for another swing by, aiming it back towards the {{w|Sun}}, the most massive Solar System body, to perform an Oberth maneuver at the point of closest approach, as indicated by a small dot along the spacecraft trajectory. It is possible that the diagram might only be a simplified outline of a more complex flight plan. For example, the trajectory from Earth to Venus would require two separate burns in deep space. The first burn would occur immediately after escaping Earth's sphere of influence. The second burn would occur about halfway to Venus. Alternatively, Cueball may have gotten it wrong, or [[Randall]] may simply not have concerned himself with such things for the purpose of a webcomic sketch. | ||
− | An Oberth maneuver in the close vicinity of the Sun, while theoretically possible and extraordinarily effective at the speeds the spacecraft would reach, would however be very difficult to carry out in real life, because the neighborhood of the Sun is an extremely hostile environment | + | An Oberth maneuver in the close vicinity of the Sun, while theoretically possible and extraordinarily effective at the speeds the spacecraft would reach, would however be very difficult to carry out in real life, because the neighborhood of the Sun is an extremely hostile environment and the spacecraft could be incinerated during a too-close flyby. |
− | + | Cueball's argument for why the maneuver will work in real life is that it works in ''{{w|Kerbal Space Program}}'' (KSP), a sandbox spaceflight simulator. While KSP does take into account quite a bit of the physics of space flight, it is (necessarily) simplistic in its modeling of orbital dynamics. KSP does not make any attempt to deal with the {{w|N-body problem}} (for which there is no complete solution), or even simpler 2-body mechanics. Instead celestial bodies are "on rails" and have fixed {{w|Sphere of influence (astrodynamics)|Spheres of Influence}} (SOI); a craft within a particular SOI feels the gravitational influence of only that body, and transitions are abrupt when a craft crosses the edge of an SOI. This means there are no {{w|Lagrangian point|Lagrangian points}}, {{w|Lissajous orbit|Lissajous orbits}}, or, critically for this context, {{w|Orbital perturbation analysis (spacecraft)|orbital perturbations}} by distant bodies or other factors. Therefore, orbits modeled using KSP would poorly reflect the actual orbital behavior of a probe traveling through the solar system on a multi-year mission involving multiple fly-by maneuvers. KSP does however have a big {{w|modding}} community and one of its members has created a mod called [https://github.com/mockingbirdnest/Principia Principia] that implements an approximation of N-body physics by using {{w|numerical integration}}. | |
− | Cueball's argument for why the maneuver will work in real life is that it works in ''{{w|Kerbal Space Program}}'' (KSP), a sandbox spaceflight simulator | ||
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The humor in referencing KSP in the comic lies in using a simple game program to simulate complex space missions which in reality take a great number of experts to plan and implement. Fly-by maneuvers, used to minimize the fuel needed to reach a destination, need to be very carefully timed - often to within seconds - so the use of ''Kerbal Space Program'' to simulate them isn't a good enough argument for NASA to agree to implement the proposal, and implies simplistic thinking on the part of the proposer; therefore one should not say it at NASA. | The humor in referencing KSP in the comic lies in using a simple game program to simulate complex space missions which in reality take a great number of experts to plan and implement. Fly-by maneuvers, used to minimize the fuel needed to reach a destination, need to be very carefully timed - often to within seconds - so the use of ''Kerbal Space Program'' to simulate them isn't a good enough argument for NASA to agree to implement the proposal, and implies simplistic thinking on the part of the proposer; therefore one should not say it at NASA. | ||
The title text refers to ''{{w|Orbiter (simulator)|Orbiter}}'', which is another spaceflight simulator program. The title text suggests that the argument doesn't work for NASA, not because it's not scientifically sound, but because NASA relies on the ''Orbiter'' simulator rather than the ''Kerbal'' simulator (although the proposed maneuver would appear to work in both). | The title text refers to ''{{w|Orbiter (simulator)|Orbiter}}'', which is another spaceflight simulator program. The title text suggests that the argument doesn't work for NASA, not because it's not scientifically sound, but because NASA relies on the ''Orbiter'' simulator rather than the ''Kerbal'' simulator (although the proposed maneuver would appear to work in both). | ||
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+ | Humorously, in real life [http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57495117-93/mars-curiosity-rover-team-prefers-macs-to-pcs/ a group of NASA team members "love" to play ''Kerbal'']. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | * | + | *{{w|NASA}} is planning a mission to the sun at a closest distance of only 8.5 solar radii. The {{w|Solar Probe Plus}} will use seven Venus flybys to reach its [http://solarprobe.jhuapl.edu/index.php first close approach]. The maneuvers will last nearly seven years, before the real mission does start. |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] | [[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Physics]] |
[[Category:Space probes]] | [[Category:Space probes]] | ||
[[Category:Space]] | [[Category:Space]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Video games]] |