Blog Post, April 30, 2014
Dawn Project
At our last visit to NASA, we learned another mission called Dawn. Marc Rayman, the head engineer of the Dawn Mission, explained what the Dawn mission was about ? Dawn is a space probe launched on September 27, 2007 to study the two objects on the asteroid belt called Vesta and Ceres. The mission was designed to find the origins of the solar system and test the ion drive. If the mission succeeds, it will be the first spacecraft to orbit two separate extraterrestrial bodies. It is the first mission to use ion propulsion to enter into space.
Where did the concept of ion propulsion come from ?
TIE Starfighter from Star Wars
The engine fueling the DAWN was mentioned in Star Wars when the Imperial first release them into the space, they look like eyeballs. TIE stands for Twin Ion Engine which fuels the space fighter. It’s fascinating how sci-fi fuels the NASA engineers to come up with a way to fuel DAWN for more than six years now. It shows how our imaginary is simply ahead of the most current technology. This dialogue between arts and science is rather fascinating because of this one idea, it allows the scientists and engineers at NASA to create more missions to explore the unknown. If sci-fi allows us to make this amazing technology to allow us to go farther into space, it makes me wonder, what is impossible?
Dawn Project
At our last visit to NASA, we learned another mission called Dawn. Marc Rayman, the head engineer of the Dawn Mission, explained what the Dawn mission was about ? Dawn is a space probe launched on September 27, 2007 to study the two objects on the asteroid belt called Vesta and Ceres. The mission was designed to find the origins of the solar system and test the ion drive. If the mission succeeds, it will be the first spacecraft to orbit two separate extraterrestrial bodies. It is the first mission to use ion propulsion to enter into space.
Where did the concept of ion propulsion come from ?
TIE Starfighter from Star Wars
The engine fueling the DAWN was mentioned in Star Wars when the Imperial first release them into the space, they look like eyeballs. TIE stands for Twin Ion Engine which fuels the space fighter. It’s fascinating how sci-fi fuels the NASA engineers to come up with a way to fuel DAWN for more than six years now. It shows how our imaginary is simply ahead of the most current technology. This dialogue between arts and science is rather fascinating because of this one idea, it allows the scientists and engineers at NASA to create more missions to explore the unknown. If sci-fi allows us to make this amazing technology to allow us to go farther into space, it makes me wonder, what is impossible?
How does the propulsion system work for Dawn ?
A typical system would use high pressure or temperature to push gas through a rocket nozzle. When the gas leaves the system is creates a reaction which pushes the craft away from the gas. It is the same concept but the method to push the gas out is much different. The biggest benefit of using an ion thruster is it is much more effective because the source of energy does not burn out and it moves faster. The Dawn spacecraft uses three ion thruster, only one at a time, to push it in a long spiral. The ion drive is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60mph in 4 days only if it’s continuously firing. Also another thing which is absolutely interesting about Dawn is how it thrust repeatedly to get gravity assistant from different planets. To get into orbit, a spacecraft has to match the speed, direction, and the location. With conventional propulsion, it attempt to get to the location and then use the planet gravity and the fuel system to match the speed and direction.
But Dawn’s method to get into orbit is different because of the ion propulsion and it is gentle. Instead of using speed, the spacecraft will slowly adjust the location and realign with the orbit. In this slow process , the craft will slowly slip into the orbit. Dawn received gravity assistant from Earth, Mars, Vesta, and Ceres’ orbit.
A typical system would use high pressure or temperature to push gas through a rocket nozzle. When the gas leaves the system is creates a reaction which pushes the craft away from the gas. It is the same concept but the method to push the gas out is much different. The biggest benefit of using an ion thruster is it is much more effective because the source of energy does not burn out and it moves faster. The Dawn spacecraft uses three ion thruster, only one at a time, to push it in a long spiral. The ion drive is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60mph in 4 days only if it’s continuously firing. Also another thing which is absolutely interesting about Dawn is how it thrust repeatedly to get gravity assistant from different planets. To get into orbit, a spacecraft has to match the speed, direction, and the location. With conventional propulsion, it attempt to get to the location and then use the planet gravity and the fuel system to match the speed and direction.
But Dawn’s method to get into orbit is different because of the ion propulsion and it is gentle. Instead of using speed, the spacecraft will slowly adjust the location and realign with the orbit. In this slow process , the craft will slowly slip into the orbit. Dawn received gravity assistant from Earth, Mars, Vesta, and Ceres’ orbit.
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