Trajectory
Interplanetary travel in solar system
Inside the Solar system, we will use slingshots to make the space craft travel out the solar system. Once the spacecraft escapes from the solar system, we could accelerate the speed of the spacecraft to the engine maximum, and then turn off the engine. For the slingshot, we can refer to the content of the class slides, using the Kepler's 3rd law to calculate the total transit time switch to the orbits of the Neptune. It should be
The total time for traveling out of the Solar system is approximate 52 years and 8 months.
We have some assumptions about this trajectory that are not necessarily true:
1) planetary orbits are circular, 2) perfect full or half-orbits constitute the slingshot paths, and 3) the slingshot is instantaneous in time, immediately changing the orbit of the satellite.
Deep space travel toward Epsilon Eridani
When the spacecraft escapes form the solar system, it starts to accelerate to the maximum speed of the ion thrust at 9000mph. By a rough calculation we need
(6.1724248 × (10^13)) / (90 000 * 24 * 365) = 78 290.5226 years to get to Epsilon Eridani
The timeline of the trajectory, orbits, voyage time lists below.
|
Trajectory |
Timeline |
|
Launch to escape Earth |
few days |
|
Slingshot to Venus |
4.9 months |
|
Ellipse orbiting around Venus |
15.3 months |
|
Slingshot to Saturn |
5.9 years |
|
Slingshot to Nepture |
44.3 years |
|
Travel Toward Epsilon Eridani |
78 thousand years |
|
Entering the orbit of the Epsilon Eridani |
few days | |
|
