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NASA Discovers 'Motorway' Network Between Planets
Ananova ^ | 7-18-2002

Posted on 07/18/2002 4:13:04 PM PDT by blam

Nasa discovers 'motorway' network between planets

Nasa says an interplanetary superhighway discovered by one of its engineers will make space travel simpler.

The solar system 'motorway' is a virtual network of winding tunnels and channels around the Sun and planets.

Each planet and moon has five locations in space called Lagrange points, where one body's gravity balances another. Spacecraft can orbit at those points while burning little fuel.

He came up with the superhighway by mapping out all the possible flight paths among the Lagrange points to see how fast or slow the spacecraft would travel.

Experts say the superhighway flight path will drastically cut the amount of fuel needed for future missions.

Nasa hopes to use the system for future human space missions by building spacecraft docking and repair platforms around the Lagrange points.

The system was discovered by Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Martin Lo.

He's using the theory to draw up a flight path for the Genesis Sun probe and plans to map out a superhighway for the entire solar system.

Mr Lo told the Nasa website: "Designing the Genesis spacecraft's flight path with traditional methods used to take eight weeks - now we design a new flight path in less than a day.

"The savings on fuel translates into a better and cheaper mission."

Story filed: 11:30 Thursday 18th July 2002


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gegenschein; motorway; nasa; network; planets; space
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To: FreedomPoster
'An ideal staging node'

Human exploration beyond Earth orbit also is on the mind of Robert Farquhar, a space scientist and L-point expert at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland. It was Farquhar, then working at NASA Goddard, who prodded the agency to send the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 to an L-point in 1978.

"We can establish a human presence at the sun-Earth (L-point). We can build up infrastructure for interplanetary transportation. It's an ideal staging node to go to Mars, Earth asteroids, or even the moon," Farquhar told the American Astronautical Society in Pasadena, California, recently.

Farquhar called for the installation of a mini-space station located near an L-point. One spacecraft would take crew and cargo from low Earth orbit to the vicinity of the L-point. From there, astronauts would board a second spacecraft to the target of their choice.

"One of the first missions would be a human sortie to a near-Earth asteroid," Farquhar said. He outlined the route that should be taken and the asteroid to be visited: 1999 A010. "It would be a one-year round trip, departing (the L-point) on April 7, 2025.

"We need a whole new way to think about human exploration beyond Earth orbit. We've been to the moon ... Let's go somewhere else," Farquhar said.

Skeptics immediately called it "a bridge too Farquhar".

61 posted on 07/18/2002 5:35:03 PM PDT by PhilDragoo
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To: snopercod
Try

http://www.piteraq.dk/books/larry_niven.html
62 posted on 07/18/2002 5:35:06 PM PDT by LRS
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To: TeleStraightShooter
I posted my claim in post 55. You post your claim in post 28. Since 55 > 28, I win.
63 posted on 07/18/2002 5:35:31 PM PDT by Lazamataz
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To: blam
now we design a new flight path in less than a day.

Except on a Friday when everybody is heading out to Vegas

64 posted on 07/18/2002 5:36:46 PM PDT by scouse
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To: Lazamataz
Now, are you then saying,

ALL YOUR L-POINTS ARE BELONG TO US

65 posted on 07/18/2002 5:37:33 PM PDT by PhilDragoo
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To: scouse
Except on a Friday when everybody is heading out to Vegas

clash of the math experts! I'll bet you ten bucks the vegas guys win!

66 posted on 07/18/2002 5:42:50 PM PDT by ovrtaxt
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To: Lazamataz
Imperial Math?
However, 28 comes before 55.

Can you recommend any interplanetary lawyers?

67 posted on 07/18/2002 5:44:32 PM PDT by TeleStraightShooter
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To: TeleStraightShooter
However, 28 comes before 55.

But 55 is a speed limit.

Therefore, I win again.

68 posted on 07/18/2002 5:48:28 PM PDT by Lazamataz
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To: VadeRetro
BTW, aren't those Lagrange points full of meteors and such?

That would make sense. Like the dead zone in a lagoon fills with trash.

69 posted on 07/18/2002 5:49:12 PM PDT by gitmo
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To: VadeRetro
The L4 and L5 type of points act as a "virtual mass" attracting objects.

That would surprise me. As massive bodies are "wells" in spacetime, the LaGrange points would be mountain peaks - an unstable location for masses to be. However, the solar system's LaGrange points will move as the planets orbit, so a smart massive body can "surf" the downside slope of the moving peak.

70 posted on 07/18/2002 5:49:31 PM PDT by GregoryFul
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To: Lazamataz
Hate to break it to you, but 28 is a good age. (At least, it seems that way to me now.)
71 posted on 07/18/2002 5:51:59 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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To: GregoryFul
That would surprise me. As massive bodies are "wells" in spacetime, the LaGrange points would be mountain peaks - an unstable location for masses to be.

The point is that they are indeed "wells." If they drift in slowly and aren't too massive, they'll stay. It takes energy to move them out.

(I'll admit to being unfamiliar with exactly what Lagrange calculated. But if he were wrong, we'd have noticed by now. I believe the opposite has happened.)

72 posted on 07/18/2002 5:54:51 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro
Hate to break it to you, but 28 is a good age. (At least, it seems that way to me now.)

It is better to be in a room that is 55o fahrenheit than it is to be in a room that is 28o fahrenheit.

So I win yet again.

73 posted on 07/18/2002 5:55:00 PM PDT by Lazamataz
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To: longshadow
Thanks for the ping...

Gerard O'Neill (whose ashes are now in orbit) had a beautiful plan for the Lagrange points of Earth-moon system. (beginnings of the L-5 Society).

I saw a presentation by Buzz Aldrin (in the 1980's) of his neat transfer-orbit continuous loop concept linking Earth and Mars.

So...
I'd love to see a good, detailed "roadmap" of this concept.
74 posted on 07/18/2002 5:55:02 PM PDT by edwin hubble
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To: VadeRetro
The point is that they are indeed "wells." If they drift in slowly and aren't too massive, they'll stay. It takes energy to move them out.

"If things drift in . . ." May the Pronoun Police question me all night!

75 posted on 07/18/2002 5:59:22 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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To: Lazamataz
But 55 is a speed limit.

Not on my planet!
Sorry to hear you are limited so,
You should really do something about that! Being you have an Imperial Aire about you, you should have some Gravity on this issue with the locals....

76 posted on 07/18/2002 5:59:33 PM PDT by TeleStraightShooter
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To: TeleStraightShooter
Having 55 brightly-colored marbles is better than having 28 brightly-colored marbles.

I win AGAIN!

77 posted on 07/18/2002 6:01:08 PM PDT by Lazamataz
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To: VadeRetro
You are right that the L4 and L5 points are "wells", the L1 through L3 points are "peaks".
78 posted on 07/18/2002 6:03:50 PM PDT by GregoryFul
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To: Lazamataz
I claim all Lagrange points! (BTW, I'm Spartacus!) This should be post 78 or thereabouts. I hope this settles this acrimonious and unseemly dispute. (Maybe I'd better up my guess to 79.)
79 posted on 07/18/2002 6:05:09 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro; TeleStraightShooter
I claim all Lagrange points! (BTW, I'm Spartacus!) This should be post 78 or thereabouts. I hope this settles this acrimonious and unseemly dispute. (Maybe I'd better up my guess to 79.)

Damn.

We've been bested by our betters, Tel.

80 posted on 07/18/2002 6:06:10 PM PDT by Lazamataz
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