The solar-system-exploration tag has no wiki summary.
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Curiosity Rover (MSL): current coordinates
I'm looking for information on the current coordinates of Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover.
I've only found the landing site coordinates 4.5895°S ...
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1answer
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How much time has passed for Voyager I since it left the Earth, 34 years ago?
34 years have passed since Voyager I took off and it's just crossing the solar system, being approximately at 16.4 light-hours away. How much time have passed for itself, though?
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Mirrors and light beam divergence technology limits
There are many applications for orbital space mirrors in astronomy (better telescopes) and space propulsion (solar power for deep space probes), but this is limited by the minimum beam divergence ...
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1answer
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How do they point a camera on a space probe?
When a probe like Voyager 1 is sent into deep space they are able to point the camera at the planet and its moons and take pictures.
How is the camera pointed at the object?
Is the camera fixed to ...
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3answers
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How do aerospace engineers choose a landing system? (Curiosity rover)
The Sojourner rover with the Mars Pathfinder used a entry, descent, and landing system involving airbags to land on Mars.
The Spirit and Opportunity rovers each used more-or-less the same system ...
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2answers
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Where can I find information on space navigation, and the people who pioneered it?
I'm doing a paper for school about space navigation. It's an interesting subject, but upon searching google, all I could find were non-detailed explanations of astrophysics that I think are meant for ...
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1answer
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Cassini: What information could be gained from the 2017 impact with Saturn?
First of all:
Will Cassini be operational in 2017 (pending no unforeseen equipment failures)?
Power
Communications
...
What information could we gain?
Properties of Saturn
How to build more ...
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3answers
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How can Voyager 1 escape gravity of moons and planets?
I think this one is pretty simple so excuse me for my ignorance. But since most planets in our solar system are very well tied to their orbit around the sun or orbit around their planet (for moons), I ...
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2answers
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How are interplanetary trajectories found?
How are interplanetary trajectories that involve gravity assist maneuvers found?
Examples:
the MESSENGER spacecraft made flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury before getting into orbit
the Juno ...
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2answers
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Why aren't space probes like New Horizons sped up in space?
So the New Horizons project is sending a probe out to image Pluto and Charon. As they're pretty far away, it will take the New Horizons probe nearly 10 years to get there (in 2015, having been ...
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1answer
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What effects will the heliosheath have on the Voyager spacecraft?
I wanted to know what effects the heliosheath will have on the Voyager 1 & 2 craft.
I know they used the slingshot method to travel through our solar system; so, with being way out in the ...
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5answers
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Curiosity Rover (MSL): specification / dimensions
I have been looking all over and I can't find a detailed specification about the Curiosity Rover.
The length is about 10 feet but it would be cool to find out the dimensions of the wheels, clearance ...
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2answers
531 views
Cameras in Voyager probes
I've always wondered about the cameras in the space probes, especially in the Voyagers.
1) What kind of cameras do they have? Digital? (What kind of sensor and megapixel count?) Analog? (Do they ...
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2answers
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What is the most distant object from the Earth that a spacecraft has visited to date?
What is the most distant object from the earth that a spacecraft visited has visited so far? What was the mission and when did it happen?
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8answers
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Why don't modern spacecraft use nuclear power?
The Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft launched in 1977 with Plutonium as their source of electricity. 34 years later they claim these two spacecraft have enough power to last them until at least 2020. That ...
